


Blood

by FayTheGay



Series: What Runs Through Them [1]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Brief Depression, Children of The Moon, Codependency, Fade to Black, Family, Friendship, Gen, Humans are dinner, Hybrid aging, Imprinting, Imprinting modified because I don't like the Canon functionality, Mental Health Issues, No Smut, Non-Vegetarian Vampires, Not Beta Read, Not a Love Story, POV Change, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Slavery, Supernatural Elements, Torture, Unfriendly Vampires, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Vampires, mentally unstable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-12 06:02:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 91,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5655076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayTheGay/pseuds/FayTheGay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabella has been a slave to vampires for years but after her owner develops feelings for her he is forced to get rid of her, after eight years in Volterra she gets thrown into a new situation that she will do anything to get out of.<br/>Part One of the What Runs Through Them series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I feel I should mention before the story begins. This story is not a romantic love story -though there is a bit of background romance-. If you are looking for romance you're in the wrong place. If you're looking for a story about loving friends and family you're in the right place. 
> 
> I have concluded that I am not a huge fan of how this story came out however I absolutely loved the sequel. If you finish this -though I'm biased- I really recommend the sequel.

My name is Isabella Marie Swan. At least it was when I was young. My family had made the mistake of visiting Volterra, Italy. Now I was referred to as Isabella and I was a Bloodbag.

What is a Bloodbag, you may ask. In short I am a vampire's pet. Their supply of blood. Though it is unfortunate that I ended up here I got lucky. Rather than kill me like the rest of the humans that had been in my group. Aro, the vampire who took me in, saved me. He was fascinated by me and kidnapped me. I became Aro's pet in Volterra. Unfortunately what happened after my eighteenth birthday was inevitable. Let's start there.

I awoke in my chambers to the sound of screaming. I climbed out of my bed and tiptoed to the door, opening it and peaking down the hall. It was almost completely pitch black except candles attached to the walls lighting small areas in front of them.

"Let me go you vampire scum!" I didn't recognize the voice. I probably should've _._ There was a hiss and another scream. Usually there was a strict no death in the human corridor rule, unless this girl had been trying to run.

I couldn't help myself. I tiptoed out the door and snaked along the wall towards the sound of the voice.

"I promise you. This will be much simpler if you don't fight it." I froze, my heartrate speeding up. Aro's voice filled my ears and it took a short second for my brain to work well enough for me to back up.

"Go use your own fucking Bloodbag." I could hear the sneer in the girl's voice.

"I cannot." He spoke the phrase in Italian, every instinct screamed at me to go back to my room but I had to know. "I have made a grave mistake by keeping her around so long. I have grown a…bond with her that I must break. Marcus has warned me."

"So he's the one who told you to use me?" Her voice stiffened, but my mind was farther away than that. Aro had taken such good care of me. He had raised me eight years of my life. He hadn't even used me as his Bloodbag until I was sixteen. What kind of bond would he have formed with me that would make him use another vampire's Bloodbag rather than come to me?

I turned on my heels to run back to my bed, that was the plan. Instead I ran straight into the solid figure of Jane. She was a very young vampire with golden hair that was almost always hidden beneath her cloak. She wasn't kind on humans and by all rights she should've killed me for sneaking out of my chambers. Instead she studied my face, thoughtful; I could almost see pity in the little bit of light that covered her face from the candles.

I was surprised when she didn't kill me. "Isabella, I suggest returning to your chambers." After a second she walked past me. I didn't hesitate, I took off in the direction of my bed hoping I didn't run into anyone else.

When I was comfortably back in my bed and I thought over the conversation I had overheard. If Aro had chosen not to feed from me because of this "bond" there were three possible outcomes. I had no doubt it meant he was done with me, I would either be executed in the morning, I would be auctioned off, or if they felt I would be of use to them I would be turned.

Something about the idea of being auctioned off left me with an ache in my stomach. I hadn't left the catacombs of Volterra in eight years. The idea of seeing sunlight again left my heart throbbing.

Then someone opened the door. I blinked in the candlelight at the tall figure in the doorway, swallowing I sat up.

"Isabella." Aro's voice made my heart pound, he was sitting on my bed in a movement so quick I didn't see it. "Let me see your hand." I could've sworn my heart stopped. I hadn't thought about Jane telling him she had seen me in the hallway. At the first contact of skin he would know everything I had seen. That was what he did with every other person, every other human.

I straightened my back and held out my hand, turning my body so I was facing him. He took it and in the dim candlelight I could see his rapid blinking as he took in every memory I had ever had.

"I am sorry, sir-" I didn't get to finish my sentence before I felt ice cold lips on mine. I struggled against him; I didn't have to think about it before I knew this was _not_ what I wanted. The issue was it didn't matter what I wanted. I was a slave and I had made the mistake of forgetting that.

He pulled away and stood, did any skin contact with him open him to your thoughts? "Isabella." He said it as if it was the saddest word in the world. He looked back at me once before he was gone. I lay back down, pulling my knees to my chest then I cried. It was stupid but I couldn't help myself. That was his farewell and I knew it. Tomorrow would tell me whether I was going to be killed or not.


	2. Two

I awoke the following morning hardly rested and sick with anticipation. I had seen executions of humans before, it was typically done if a human acted out enough that they deserved to serve as an example. I hadn't done anything wrong, had I? I thought back on the months preceding, my regular checkups, being well fed to keep my blood strong, being dinner for Aro. It had all seemed so normal.

Where had things taken a turn?

What had changed?

I struggled with my thoughts as my door opened. "Isabella." I looked up as the blonde girl, Marcus's Bag, opened the door.

It took a second for something that should've clicked with me the night before to register in my brain now. She was the one Aro had used last night. Her shouting was why I knew what was coming for me. I wanted to kill her for it, if I hadn't known today could have begun normal. If I hadn't know I could've been blind to what was going to happen.

"I thought we were supposed to keep from each other's rooms." I said as she slid into my room, closing the door behind her.

"Nice to meet you too." Her voice was annoyed, I watched her as she came to my bed and sat next to me. "My name is Rosalie."

"I know your name." I said it defensively; I had heard her name said many times by Marcus. He was fascinated with his recent possession and had taunted Aro for his loyalty to me trying to convince him to trash me and find someone new.

"Well, Isabella." She paused. "May I call you Bella?" Bella. Hm. I hadn't had a nickname since...I was last outside, my dad had called me…what had he called me? I tore at my memories but found nothing. I had been here so long…

"I suppose that would be alright." I said after a moment.

"We are being sold." She looked at the wall. "I overheard Aro and Marcus speaking last night after…" She paused and glanced at me.

"I am aware that you were fed on by Aro last night." I didn't really care, the only reason it had hurt me was I had known the inevitable outcome.

"According to them they have a rare appearance arriving, I am not aware of the name but I know it is a woman. They wish to give her two of their prized possessions."

"Marcus did have a bit of an obsession with you." I acknowledged absently.

She scoffed. "A bit is an exaggeration. Apparently it's something with my blood. Don't ask what." She laid back on my bed, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. I knew her being here was dangerous but honestly...If we were being thrown to the wolves anyway what's the worst they could do?

"Rosalie?" I laid back next to her. "How long have you been a Bag?"

"I was born at a slaughterhouse. I escaped there but was recaptured later on." Slaughterhouses were places human were bred and sent out to vampires with less control of themselves. It was ideal for those who don't enjoy keeping humans as pets. Unlike Aro, Marcus, and Caius who ruled the vampires, they preferred having one human around for extensive time frames. "You have a fascinating story, Bella. Parents killed by Aro and rather than killing you as well he kept you, almost raising you as if you were his own child."

"I don't think parents are supposed to kiss their child." I shuddered at the memory and felt her take my hand.

"Comfort yourself with that fact. I promise you could have it so much worse." I rolled onto my side, facing her and sliding my hand from her grip.

She rolled onto her side so she was facing me. "Rose." She blinked. "That's what I will call you."

"That would be nice." She looked thoughtful. "I wish I'd had the balls to come to your room sooner."

I felt myself grinning. "If you had this encounter probably wouldn't have been as ideal."

"You're probably right." She took my hand again. "I hope we can be close friends."

"Assuming we don't die at the hands of our new owner."

"Assuming that." We were both grinning now. "I should probably go before Jane rats on me."

"I saw Jane last night when I snuck out." It was an absent thought but I couldn't stop it from escaping my lips.

She lost her grin and gaped at me. "And you're alive?"

"She looked like she felt bad for me." I frowned at the memory.

"That bitch has a soul?" She shook her head and sat up, I followed. "You know she ratted Irina out? That's why she got executed. All she did was take extra food, it's not like they're going to eat it." She got up, shaking her head. "I will see you later."

It took no time for her to take off out of the room, grumbling under her breath. I knew what I did last night was an executable offense, was the situation bigger than I thought? That was one of the things that had been embedded in me from the beginning. I felt like there was something else...something I should remember...I shook it off.

I pondered why Jane had let me go as I opened my wardrobe, changing into a deep red strapless dress that reached just above my ankles. I paused for a moment before kneeling to the bottom and opening a shoebox. In the shoebox was a small diamond necklace that my parents had bought me, the diamond probably was fake but it was the only possession I had kept since the vampires had killed my parents all those years ago.

I chose not to think about it, that was the past and I was not going to dwell on it today. I wrapped the chain around my wrist twice turning the necklace into a bracelet. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

 _Three, two, one, clear your mind and focus, let's get through this and we'll worry later._ Just like that what I told myself became reality, I straightened my back and walked out of the room, not thinking at all about what was to come. I walked down the hall, passing Rosalie's room.

_Diary,_

_Mom and dad told me we going to visit a under part area of the city, they told me that we got special invites. It means we're special right. When we got there were lot of people, they were pretty people and there eyes glowed, one of them saw me and took me from mom and dad. He told me that they would be ok and I would see them again later. He brought me to a bed and told me to write this, he wanted to know about my day. He said I'd get presents for each word I spelt write. Joke on him because I am a good speller._

I stood at the entrance to what was known as the Throne Room. At the far back away from the entrance were three thrones with tall backs, in the center was Aro, on the left was Caius's throne and on the right Marcus was lounging, staring at the ceiling. Caius was nowhere to be seen. Rosalie was sitting in front of Marcus's throne on her knees watching me closely. There was a small crowd of vampires standing around, some whispering to each other. All of them were watching me, I didn't have to look at them, they were predators and it left my hair standing up on the back of my neck.

I let out a low breath and walked through the room, kneeling in front of Aro while turning to face the rest of the room. Sometimes we would sit like this for hours on end but it was already clear that today was different. The room was full of tension.

"Isabella." Aro spoke and I turned to face him. "Where did you obtain that necklace from?"

"I've had it since I arrived here, sir." I clenched my fist at my side, praying he wouldn't take it from me.

"It is lovely, I wish you had worn it more." That was all he said before lying his head back against the chair. I faced the front of the room again, we sat there for probably three hours. Except for the quiet whispering from the vampires in front of us and the occasional sounds of heels as female vampires walked through the room, there was absolutely no sound during the time. It was a typical day for us, I had built up a lot of muscle in my legs to help me hold myself like this for long periods of time but it was still tiring and my legs were half asleep.

Caius finally entered into the room, walking down the center, I could feel his eyes on me. He had always hated me, I was surprised he hadn't killed me long ago.

"Aro." He stepped up next to me, I could faintly hear the sound of Aro standing. I wanted to turn my head slightly to see the encounter but knew I was not allowed. Instead I continued looking forward.

"Step back, Caius."

I could feel the tension between the two as Caius stepped back a few centimeters.

"The guest is here." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rosalie flinch slightly.

"Isabella, stand up." He touched the back of my head as I slowly stood, tensing as the sudden bloodflow that left my legs tingling. It could have been worse but it was still painful. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rosalie rising. Marcus was never of many words so I imagine he had done something physical to alert Rosalie to stand.

"She wants to meet the girls before she takes them. However, she does not trust me nor you, Aro. She has requested that Jane escort them." I could hear the annoyance in his voice. Whoever this vampire was she was smart, and apparently a potent enough figure that Caius and Aro would abide by her request. Then the name hit me, _Jane._ Why Jane?

"We can abide by that." I noticed when Jane looked up from one of the groups, I had not realized she was in the room.

"Isabella. Look at me." I turned to face Aro. "I have a gift for you." He paused then turned to his throne, there was a notebook there that I had not noticed before. He let out a small sigh, turned, and handed it to me.

"This is my diary." I was stunned, as I stroked the cover of it. He had taken it not long after he had given it to me. He had had me write down my thoughts when I was first here, using it as a way to make me feel like I was being productive. I had always thought he had thrown it away but I was wrong. "Thank you Aro." I felt Caius moving away, I risked it and hugged him, he had been my father for several years. Even after last night's awkward encounter, I was seriously gonna miss the man that raised me, even if the situation was screwed. There was a moment of hesitation before he hugged me back, it was a brief hug then he let go and I backed away.

"Jane." I turned to face the room, swallowing slightly as Jane walked to the center of the walkway, motioning for us to follow her. I glanced over at Rosalie who looked extremely nervous. I took a hesitant breath as we followed Jane down the hallway.

We walked in silence for a while. "Isabella." Jane finally spoke, she let out a low sigh.

"I am really tired of hearing my name."

"The vampire the two of you are being taken by, there is a reason we have been so obliging." She let out another sigh. "You need to understand something. This woman is part of a family of vampires that is stronger than the Volturi. They have not made a move on us because they are respectable," she hesitated before continuing "towards vampires. Rosalie, I know you have limited respect towards me because of what I did to Irina but I had no choice in the matter once Aro saw." She stopped walking and turned to face us.

"This woman that is going to take you, she owned the factory you were born in, Rosalie. She is one of the few respectable ones out of the family." She sighed and laid her head back, staring at the ceiling. "You both are about to be drug into something that I can almost guarantee will result in the death of at least one of you." She turned and began walking again. "You cannot do what little you got away with here. I am warning you both because I care about the two of you." She paused as we turned another corner.

I took Rose's hand, I could see tears welling in her eyes. I was strong, I could do this. I could make it through this. I would adapt to the situation I was thrown in because that is what I had always done best.

"At the end of this hallway lies your future." She turned, glancing at both of us before returning from where we came.

I let out a hesitant sigh, squeezing Rosalie's hand. As if it was the most dreadful thing in the world, which it probably was, we began stepping down the hall. It felt like eternity, _step, step, step, step_. It seemed as though it wasn't getting closer. Come on.

 _Three, two, one, clear your mind and focus, come on Isabella. Get your shit together._ Something sounded off about my mental voice. Like it wasn't my own. I chose not to dwell on it. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding in and stood up straight, walking straight down the hall. I pulled a trembling Rosalie along with me. When we finally reached the door I paused for a brief moment before pulling open the door.


	3. Three

It was easy. Choosing to open the door. All I did was grab the handle and pull. On the inside of the room was a long table, the back of the room had a door in it as well. There were small lanterns on these walls but they were brighter than the ones in the rest of the city. I had to shut my eyes and look away from them to allow my eyes to adjust.

"Isabella. Rosalie." Her voice sent a chill down my spine, I blinked as I looked back towards her. The girl that sat at the far end of the table was beautiful as all vampires were.

She had fiery red hair that encircled her too gentle face. The smirk that was etched into her face was unsettling. Her eyes were on Rosalie. She barely seemed to notice me.

"It has been a long time Rosalie." Her voice was slightly childish.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rosalie straightening her back, standing taller. "It has, Victoria."

"Come here." The red haired vampire spoke, I could see that Rosalie didn't want to do it. "Now, Rosalie." After a short second of hesitation from Rosalie, the red haired vampire, Victoria, was in front of her.

"You were warned what would happen if you ran, Rosalie." Victoria picked her up by her throat; it took mere seconds for the bruises to start forming. Rosalie choked and tried to pull her away. What I did next was beyond me.

"Wait!" I yelled as I grabbed hold of the vampire's arms, this was the stupidest thing I had ever done. I had never thrown myself in between a vampire and human. It was stupid. This was proven when she dropped Rosalie and hit me across the room. I hit the wall with so much force that I thought I was going to die. I could almost feel the cracking of my bones as the impact made the world around me go into blackness.

.-~**~-.

After what could've been years I slowly came into consciousness. My brain was foggy as was my vision. Out of instinct my eyes opened but immediately I had to shut my eyes when a bright light entered my vision. _Okay. Keep your eyes closed. Focus on your surroundings. Can you feel your body?_ Again my mental voice sounded off. I tried not to think about that. Instead I mentally took into count my bones. Five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot. _Okay. Fingers and toes accounted for. Can you move your body?_ Why would I ask myself that? I racked my brain then remembered being thrown across a room by a read haired vampire. I took a deep breath and gasped at the pain in my ribs and lungs.

 _Lungs and ribs injured. Try and open your eyes again._ I squinted my eyes as I opened them, trying to focus on the bright light above me. It hurt my eyes though. I knew what they were. These were real lights. I hadn't seen them since I was eight and only now had what they were registered with me. _Focus, Bella. Is that a figure over there?_ I blinked rapidly, in the corner sat a small figure, she had short black hair and dark eyes, I tried to place her but I had never seen her before. _Bella._ I blinked again and the girl was in front of me.

"Isabella?" Her voice was chipper. "Don't move too much. Vic broke three of your ribs and did something to your lung." She frowned and looked across the room, had she been smiling before? I grimaced. I'd broken bones before, if it hadn't been for Aro I'd have died a long time ago. It seemed like she was having a stare down with someone, I struggled to roll my head over and there she sat, the red headed woman who had done this to me.

"Where is Rosalie?" I struggled to say it, I now noticed my throat was sore, how long had I been out? I started taking count of my current condition. In my right arm I now realized was an IV. Ugh. I hated needles, I had grown to be okay with blood but it still made me squeamish.

"She is in another room. Isabella." I turned my gaze back to the black haired vampire. "Vic told us you instigated what happened, is that what truly happened?"

My mind was still foggy. I couldn't recall what happened, not really. _Bella, you seriously need to focus. What did Jane say about these vampires?_ I thought of the conversation we'd had before I'd met her.

 _"They are respectable…towards vampires._ "

Okay so I needed to be careful. _Lie._ "I instigated it." I said, my throat still hurt but it wasn't as bad as it could be. I was slowly becoming more and more aware of the situation.

"If it wasn't for Victoria's mate standing outside the door you would be dead, Isabella."

"Tell him thanks for me." I said sarcasm strong in my voice. There was a hiss from the other side of the room. Clearly I'd said the wrong thing because in seconds there was a red headed vampire on top of me. Black haired pixie girl backed away and I cried out in agony as weight dug into my ribs.

"You have a beautiful throat, Isabella. Alice, do not interfere." I was in so much agony from the weight on my broken ribs that I barely felt her fangs pierce my neck.

 _Shit shit shit shit shit. Bella, you have to get out of this now. Bella. Get out of this. Think._ I couldn't think though, agony filled every ounce of me, except for the annoying voice in my head there was nothing else.

"Victoria!" The weight disappeared and all I wanted to do was curl into a fetal position and cry. I couldn't do that though, I also couldn't stop crying, which I hadn't realized I was doing until now. Oh God the pain. It hurt so much. Black spots danced along my vision and I could feel myself falling into unconsciousness. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a blue eyed blonde haired vampire.

I was already tired of waking up groggy. I really wished the red head would just kill me and get it over with. It didn't take as long for me to become conscious this time around, I did a body part count and a quick check over my body through slight movements. My ribs were healed? How long had I been unconscious? I blinked several times as I focused on the dim room around me. So they had gotten rid of the blinding light? I couldn't help but wonder why.

"Bella?" Rosalie's voice -coming from my right- made me relax instantly. I rolled my head slightly to the direction and frowned. I wasn't overly surprised by the sight of her bruised face but my ribs were healed, why hadn't they done the same for her?

"Rose?" I choked out her name. Ugh. My throat again.

_Of course your throat is screwed up._

_Shut up._ I told the voice in my head, she was starting to piss me off. Wait. That wasn't my voice. It was someone else. Oh God. I was losing my mind.

"Oh thank God, Bella, I heard your screaming from down the hall and pulled out my IV trying to get to you. I made them send Doctor Carlisle in here to save your sorry ass."

I would have laughed if my throat didn't hurt so much. I groaned as I moved slightly. God this hurt.

"Bella, look at me." I did as she asked; realizing how worried she actually looked.

"What's wrong?" I managed to croak out; she pulled a bottle of water in one of those cups they gave infants juice in. _We aren't drinking out of a bottle, Bella, seriously._

I shook my head slightly, she laughed slightly. "Bella, you seriously need to drink this."

I narrowed my eyes and she rolled her eyes, pulling the lid off of it and carefully pouring it in my mouth. Oh my God water had never tasted so great. It slid down my throat, coating the dry skin of my unused throat; she put the cup on the table next to me, never letting her eyes wander from mine.

"They gave you their blood." I gaped at her.

 _Oh_ Hell _no. They did not do that to us. Bella, find out what the Hell happened?_

"What happened?" I struggled to get out. I was stunned.

"Like I said before. I ripped my IVs out, not long after Carlisle came in I followed. Victoria almost snapped my neck but Carlisle made her leave the room. Carlisle said that while she was on you she pushed one of your broken ribs into your lung; don't ask me how the hell she managed that." She sighed and shook her head, shuddering. "He put you under more sedation and cut into you. Right where that rib had punctured you. He cut his own wrist, letting the blood touch you."

She stood up -apparently she had been sitting- and started pacing. "That stuff wasn't even running through your _veins,_ Bella. Somehow their blood healed you, I didn't see past that part because when he started cutting into you to heal your ribs I fainted.

_Holy shit, Bella. Vamp blood saved our lives. We have no hope in ever being let go now, we owe our life to this stupid doctor who should have let us die._

_Do you_ mind? The voice in my head had become very active since we encountered the red head. I knew the voice. I'd heard it in the past. I didn't really remember how I remembered it but it was there. Pushing at the back of my mind. The voice was something I'd experienced in the past.

 _You let me in, Izzy._ Izzy. Where had that nickname come from? It seemed so familiar…

"Bella." I looked at Rose. Freeing myself from my mental problem for the time being. "We have to go soon."

Something had been gnawing at the back of my mind, it finally came forward.

"Hold on."

"I will explain to you later my history with them." She had hit the nail on the head there, it was a reasonable question though. They had been very obliging to her according to her story and it seemed Victoria had a vendetta with her.

"Why did they save me?" I asked, slowly sitting up and stretching as she walked towards the door.

"Because it wasn't time for you to die yet." That was all she said as she turned and strolled into the hall. I was left sitting there, alone, nervous, on edge, and with an annoying voice in my head telling me to chase after that girl.

I hadn't been anywhere else since I was taken by Aro all those years ago so when I opened the door to an empty hallway I was a bit disappointed. I had no idea where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do and there was no one here to tell me. The stupid lights were light bulbs and my eyes still were far from being used to it. _When we were younger your dad sometimes wore dark glasses that kept the sun from hurting his eyes._ I ignored the voice and looked down the hallway, debating whether I should go right or left. _Maybe its dinner time, use your sense of smell, Bella._ Of course she was right. That was common sense.

I took a deep breath and could faintly smell food cooking to my…left. I headed in that direction, hoping to God that I would stumble onto someone who was not the fiery redhead. The first corner I turned walked me right into a new vampire. _Just our luck._ He turned and hissed at me, I quickly backed away.

"So you're alive." This vampire was very normal looking, he had light brown hair and deep brown eyes.

"Are you," _that psychopath's_ "Victoria's mate?" He leaned against the wall, looking me up and down like I was his next meal, and for all I knew I could have been.

"I am. My name is James." He laughed, shaking his head. "I am going to be honest, I assumed you would be dead right now. Someone in here must seriously care about your well-being," he paused, "or seriously want your blood. I heard about Vic jumping you in the hospital room. That little blonde nightmare apparently still has some serious pull."

 _Get him to elaborate on Rose. Now, Bella._ I ignored her. "Apparently so."

"Has she told you why?"

"No."

"Probably for good reason." He chuckled. "You'd never see her as the same person." He looked me over one more time before shaking his head. "Do you know where you are supposed to be?"

"No."

_Bella! Elaborate! Make him tell us!_

"No one told me."

"Well I believe the humans are eating dinner right now. It doesn't exactly mean that's where you're supposed to be but I would presume that the dining hall would hold someone who would know. Follow me." Then we were walking down a hallway, all I could think about was Jane's warnings. This one had seemed okay but he also didn't seem to be in a hunting mood. I let out a small breath of relief. For now at least.


	4. Four

I followed James into what he had referred to as a dinner hall. I'd eaten many meals in my time with the Volturi but we had always eaten in our rooms or in the throne room. I vaguely remembered my elementary school life, I had not been a bright student and had been forced into special classes. I had thought of my diary entries when I was first brought here and realized how young I had sounded from the writings.

 _We were brain damaged, it's not your fault._ Brain damaged was not what we were but I had to remember to ignore the voice. I vaguely wondered in the back of my mind what had happened to my journal. Had it been left behind?

I peeked around him at the large room, it was gratefully much dimmer here than it had been in the rest of the place. There were several tables set around that reminded me of the tables we'd eaten at in school. There were many humans sitting around the tables, I noted each door was protected by a vampire. I searched the tables and was relieved at the sight of Rosalie. She was alone, several humans were pointing at her and whispering.

"I imagine the blonde nightmare knows what you are supposed to do. Goodbye." Then I was alone, well at least for a brief second. As I began walking towards the table I was instantly stopped by an icy hand on my shoulder. Reluctantly, I turned and was facing an olive skinned vampire with glossy black hair.

"You are new." He leaned forward and took a deep breath. "What is your name?"

_Okay, seriously, I am sick of being treated like a piece of meat. Bella, do something._

"Isabella." I took a step back. "I am still recovering." He searched my face, trying to catch me in a lie I was sure. I'd just recovered from a hospital visit. It wasn't a lie. It could do more harm than good to be fed on until I knew more.

He seemed to consider before he nodded and stepped back to the door we had come through. "Very well, Isabella. I cannot wait until you have recovered. Assuming you aren't claimed before then." He looked over my shoulder for a brief enough second I could have easily believed I hadn't seen it before leaning back against the door.

"Goodbye, Isabella." He said as I walked hesitantly towards Rosalie's table.

"You have a lot to tell me." I said as I sat down.

_If you got to pry it out of her cold dead hands._

"I know I do, Bella." She sighed. "I don't even know where to begin. This is what I will tell you. As you know I was born in one of the slaughterhouses. That slaughterhouse happened to be owned by Victoria. There was a strong rule that if a human were to escape we were to be killed slowly and painfully." She sighed and shook her head. "Of course my conception was not…normal." She bit her lip as she picked up a sandwich off of her tray that I had barely even noticed. She took a bite and chewed for a bit. "Carlisle, the doctor, he spends a lot of time in the slaughterhouses, making sure the humans stay healthy." Another bite and a sigh. "He met my mother."

_Holy shit, is she going where I think she is with this._

"Please say you're joking."

"I am half vampire. If I live off of human blood I can be identified as a vampire. Bella, I'm not human. At all. I don't have a lick of humanity in me. Of course they didn't know before what my mother was."

"Rosalie." We both jumped at the sound of a voice.

 _It's the pixie girl._ Sure enough it was, we both looked over at the end of the table, the little black haired girl. I vaguely remembered Victoria referring to her as Alice before things went terribly wrong. "Carlisle has requested for me to keep an eye on you." She looked at me. "I would like to apologize, Isabella. I would have done something but Victoria is ranked higher than me." She offered a gentle smile. "My mate told me how much pain she caused you. It almost would have been better she killed you." She looked at Rosalie, giving her a look of 'you screwed up.'

_I could love her, I could fucking love this vampire._

My vision was met with an uncomfortable picture of me making out with pixie girl. _Seriously!_ Where _did_ that _come from? We are straight!_

_Now that I have your attention, we need to pry more into Rosalie's life. Now._

_I will not pry._

_You will or we will start imagining pixie girl here naked._ I did not like that that idea. At all.

" _Will you just shut up?_ " The two other girls stared at me, I had apparently said that out loud.

"We didn't say anything. Are you okay?" Alice was just staring at me as Rosalie talked. Was she staring at me? I tilted my head, ignoring the prying questions from Rosalie.

"Alice?" I asked hesitantly, she didn't respond.

"She's fine." I looked at Rose. "She sees the future." I looked back at Alice who stood suddenly.

"Isabella, you have been requested by my brother." She shook her head. "Rosalie, you have been assigned to the garden, apparently Carlisle is making some pulls to keep you off the dinner menu."

"Next time you see him tell him I would prefer not to be treated specially." She stood up, glaring at Alice. "His special treatment is part of why I left."

"I promise you that he will not change his mind." Alice frowned, "no one has informed my brother you have returned. It will not be long before it gets spread to him though."

"Bella, don't mention my name." Rosalie said before taking off towards one of the back doors.

_You should definitely mention her name, find out more about her._

"Oh yeah." Alice pulled a small bag off her shoulder I hadn't noticed before, she pulled a pair of black glasses out of it and handed them to me. "Carlisle mentioned your eyesight is sensitive because of the amount of time you were underground. We use electricity here so…" She left the sentence there.

_Because the Volturi won't get out of medieval times here's something to keep your eyes from hurting. Jane said Victoria was the respectable one. You have to remember that._

_Maybe Jane was wrong._

_There you go, letting me in again._

"Who was responsible for Rosalie getting away from here?"

Alice stared at me for a second, "it wasn't her father." She stood up as I put the glasses on. "I am going to take you to my brother then I have to return to work. She called you Bella. May I call you that?" I hesitated then nodded. "Well, Bella. I feel I should tell you, that voice you hear. She is important."

 _Holy shit she knows about me, interrogate her. Now._ I ignored her. It was easier that way.

Alice smiled lightly at me before heading towards another door. "Bella, come on." I got up and went after her.

"You will be part of menu three days per week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You will be my brother's personal servant on Thursday and Saturday. Sundays and Tuesdays you will be with me or one of the other workers. "

 _I already miss sitting in front of Aro's throne._ I had to agree with that.

_We'll get used to this._

_Like we have a choice._ We walked quietly down the hall, the glasses were helping my eyes but I knew that eventually I would have to learn to get rid of them. _If Rosalie escaped before it's possible we could do so as well._

_And what? Go into the daylight?_

_They can't go into sunlight._

_I haven't lived with humans in years._ I realized I was letting her in again, I had to stop that. I vaguely was aware she'd been in my head before. I wasn't sure why but I knew that. I just didn't know where she came from this time.

I shook my head. "When I'm his personal servant will he feed on me?"

"As you are probably aware, you need to recover between being fed on, on your spare days you will do your share of work." We paused at a door, she hesitated then knocked on it. "Emmett!"

There was a bit of noise on the other side of the door before it opened. On the other side is a large vampire with dark brown hair, hair so brown it was almost black. His eyes were crystal blue, he whispered something after glancing at me. Alice nodded. "So you're the new girl who sent Victoria over the edge?" He laughed and looked at me again, shaking his head. "You better be worth it. So tell me, what's your name?"

_Bella, this one seems good. We need to keep friendly with him._

"Isabella."

"Emmett, she was raised by Aro."

"Define raised." He opened the door more, motioning for me to come in the room. I hesitated then did so. Inside the room the lights were dim, there was a bed, a couch, and a table with a big box…I think it was called a television.

"Aro took her from her parents when she was young. She's never had to do real work. She was his pet."

"I will guide her."

"One more thing, keep her away from Edward. If he sees her he _will_ want her."

"I made my bid. I will see you later, Alice." He stepped in the room and closed the door behind him, turning to face me and grinning.

 _I like this one, you better not screw up._ That was one thing I could agree with.


	5. Five

"Take a seat, Isabella."

I hesitated then sat down on his bed. Oh, lord. It was soft. I hadn't been on a piece of furniture this soft since I was a kid. He sat down next to me after a moment.

"So part of your sale was you needed to be informed of how things worked here. Since you are from Volterra I can understand why. My name is Emmett, you have met my sister Alice."

I nodded. "Jane implied things would be run here differently than there."

"She probably fed you the same information that she's been fed. We are not cruel to humans." He paused.

_That nightmare red head sure seemed to be._

"Well not all of us. Some of us, people like Victoria." He grinned. "I really do have to say, your attitude towards her did not go without being spread around." He chuckled and laid back. "You don't have to sit there if you don't want to." I could feel him looking at me, did I want to move? Not really.

_Focus, some point during this you need to mention Rosalie and find out more about her._

"Suit yourself. As I was saying, some of us, like Victoria, strongly believe that the humans around here should be treated as the ones in the slaughterhouses. Cattle, not servants and companions.

 _"Companions?"_ I asked at the same time the other voice rang through my head asking the same question.

 _Great minds think alike._ It was difficult not to comment on how right she was.

Emmett didn't hesitate to answer the question, "On very rare occasions some vampires will take humans as companions. Not mates, but a partner."

 _Friends with benefits. Minus the friends part of course._ The other voice sounded slightly disgusted.

Emmett continued on, "Honestly I would lose my mind if I was stuck with nothing but vampires around. Allow me to continue. We are all ranked, whatever rank we are decides what we are allowed to do and not to do. The higher the rank the more privileges. We can get knocked down a rank for doing something we shouldn't. "

_That's why Alice couldn't save us._

"There are five ranks. _Lado_ is the top, the "royalty" as Aro has called it. They get to do whatever they want with little to no backlash. _Dari_ is the next one down, Carlisle is ranked here. They get away with a lot, not as much as the _Lado_. Then there's the _Parado_ , that is where Victoria is ranked. They get in trouble for certain things. Assaulting humans isn't something they get in trouble for." He hesitated. " _Ilufri_ is the next to last, where Alice is ranked. They are typically the ones who did something terrible. Then _Goraro_ which is where the humans are ranked."

_So we get ranks?_

"Can humans move up in ranks?" I asked after considering the voice's words.

I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "They can, it can be done by becoming companions with a higher rank. Vampires mating with a higher rank can cause it as well. It can also be done by proving yourself worthy of ranking up. Humans fortunate enough to get ranked up get pulled of The Menu because they are considered a person."

"How about vampires? Can you be _Goraro_?"

There was distaste in his voice, "They can, they are the ones who work the slaughterhouses. The trash."

I frowned at that. Of course I couldn't really blame them, it was how they worked.

"So why is Alice so low in ranks?"

"We actually have someone who is about to be moved up in rank, his name is James." I could sense the tension. So he dodged the question, fine.

"I met him."

"Did he try and feed on you?"

That was sudden, was there hope in his voice? I turned to face him and he was sitting up now, hope clear in his eyes. _Hm._

"No. He was very…"

"He saved your life."

"You seem to know the facts."

"Him saving your life is why he's getting ranked up. Everyone is hoping he will slip up and lose that privilege."

"I take it he's not good?"

"Well most of us aren't good. I mean we keep humans prisoner and sell them like animals. But James is bad news."

_At least he's honest about them being bad._

"He was made by an old friend of Carlisle's. He made Alice." He paused. "I'm sure you've guessed by now me and Alice aren't related by blood."

I hadn't even thought of it but I nodded anyway.

"I helped her out when she showed up here. She's part of why our rivalry with the Volturi is so strong. Seeing the future is a very good advantage in war."

"I imagine. They gave up the two most valuable humans in their collection."

"Two humans? I thought it was just you?"

_Mention Rosalie. Now, Bella._

"Me and another girl." Honestly, I hadn't planned on telling him. Mostly in spite of the voice in my head. Partially because I'd been asked by Rosalie not to do it.

"Why would no one tell me?" He asked, rising to his feet.

"I don't know."

"I will ask later." He shook his head, something obviously was now bothering him. "So I am sure you have been informed of your schedule. Worker days are the days you are in the manual labor. You will work in kitchens, the garden, or other things."

"I've never had to do manual labor before."

"They wanted you weak, less likely to run. I'm sure we'll start you out under lighter workloads. As you build up muscle from that you will begin working the harder things. You aren't the first person we've brought in that hadn't had to work before."

I nodded and looked at the television.

"Are you any good at video games?"

I looked at him. Kind of stared, what was a video game?

"I am going to take it that the Volturi still run off of no power. I am going to teach you how to play video games." He grinned and jumped off the bed before he pulled the couch in front of the television. "Come sit down."

I hesitated then did so, standing up and walking over to him, sitting down on the couch. He pulled a black rectangular box out of a dresser I had not noticed was beneath it and set it on the floor in front of the television. He connected something to it and pressed a button on the television. He handed me a weird black thing with colorful buttons on the right with letters in the center of each, two little black knob things, one below the buttons and one on the left side. Below the left knob thing was a little cross thing.

"That's a controller. The thing I turned on is a TV and that's the console for the game." He motioned to each thing. Controller, okay, I was holding a controller. I guessed TV was a short term for television. To most people this was probably common knowledge.

 _I'm sure it is, Bella, you need to pry about Rose. Stop ignoring me._ I had managed to drown her out most our conversation but now my mind was not as active so I didn't have a way to drown her out.

"I'll put in a racing game, hold on." He pulled a small metal circular thing out of the cabinet and pushed it into a slot I hadn't noticed was in the console.

He sat down as the screen lit up.

So I honestly had to say. Even though I was absolutely terrible at it -as we quickly learned- it was still a lot of fun. It even kept my brain focused so I didn't have to deal with the voice. I hadn't even realized it had been hours until I seriously needed to pee. I had had to ask Emmett where a bathroom was and he had given me directions down the hall, I was fortunate enough not to run into anyone. I got to do my business and come back. I opened the door quietly because I could hear him talking on the other side.

"Welcome back, Isabella." Emmett had a small thing in his hand, I think I had seen this around Volterra. A phone. "Give me a second. Alice, she said there was a second human. Why did no one tell me?" Pause. "What do you mean you can't tell me. God dammit, Alice." He looked up at me. "I will call you back." He set it down next to him.

"Who came with you?"

_Tell him._

I hesitated.

"Isabella, may I remind you of your place, I would prefer not to have to." His voice was threatening, he was standing in front of me in a second.

I swallowed. "Her name is Rosalie."

He stared at me, his expression was a hundred different emotions, pain, sorrow, anger, excitement, longing, the list went on. I didn't know what to do, I was scared for both of us. Why was Rosalie relevant to him?

"Emmett."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know."

"Where is she, Isabella. Don't make me ask again."

I hesitated again, his eyes darkened and I knew I was pushing him. "Something about gardening."

Then he was gone and I was alone in his room.


	6. Six

I hesitated then headed back out the door, going back towards the dinner hall. _If we got Rose killed I am blaming you._

_What’d_ I _do? I didn’t even say anything that time._

_Knowledge is dangerous. If I hadn’t pried I would’ve been able to pass as not lying because I wouldn’t have known as much._

_At least you’re addressing me._

I pushed open the door to the dinner hall and was actually thankful to see a guard standing on the other side. “Have you seen Emmett?” The guard said nothing but motioned towards the door Rosalie had gone through earlier. “What is on the other side of that door?”

“You’re new. There are several bedrooms down the hall, at the end of it is the garden.” I didn’t look back as I headed for the other door.

_That was weird._

_Why’s that?_

_Most the vampires we’ve encountered have sniffed us down._

_Now is not the time._ I pushed open the door on the other side of the dinner hall and walked down the hall.

_As much as you hate me, which is really irrational considering I am part of the reason you are still alive._

_All you are is my subconscious._

_Hardly, in case you haven’t noticed I only show up when you are in danger._

_I’m not in danger right now._

_When I show up and why I stay around are two different things. Look where you’re going._

Just as she said that I had to blink and stop because we were at the end of the hall. I could hear arguing from the other side of the door. I hesitantly pushed open the door and stepped inside. This was another room with bright lights, there were four rows, on the ground was soil with plants growing out of it, hanging from the ceiling was planters with plants growing out of them. Above each row were lights. We had had gardens in Volterra so I actually knew what was going on here. Mostly. We hadn’t used lights there.

In front of me Emmett was arguing with Alice.

“Where is she at, Alice?”

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

“Don’t make me pull rank on you.”

“Emmett, I dropped ranks because of you, I will do it again. I am not telling you where she is.”

He looked at me. _That look. Bella, you need to run. Now._

“Alice, if you don’t tell me where she is, I will kill every last human I see. Starting with Isabella here.” Too late to run. He was behind me and had his hands on my head, he had the perfect hold to snap my neck. I could feel tears running down my cheeks.

_We are_ not _going to die here. Bella, you need to get out of this._

_If you see any plausible route to escape, please, share with me._

_Let me think for a second._

“Emmett, if you do that, you will get dropped ranks or worse.”

“I have to see her, Alice.”

“Kill them then. Kill all of them. It won’t change the fact that I am not letting you see her.”

_Yell for Rose!_

“Rosalie!” I had yelled her name before I realized what I was doing. It was selfish but I didn’t really care.

“Bella?” Her voice came from further back in the room. I closed my eyes. Oh this was cruel. I heard her footsteps as she came running this way. I could almost sense the tension when she saw him.

“Rosalie.” He dropped me. I landed on my knees and looked up to see Rosalie staring at him. “Can we talk?”

“I don’t want to talk to you, Emmett.”

“Please.” I got up slowly, careful not to stand directly between the two.

“There is nothing to be said. You cannot defend yourself for what you did to me. You humiliated me and got my rank dropped for no good reason.”

_Holy crap, she was ranked higher? How high?_

“No good reason?” Anger boiled in his voice. Alice stepped between them. “You allowed him in your bed!”

“I did no such thing! You assumed that because Sam told you that that it was true.” Tears streaked her cheeks. “You told me you loved me, Emmett. Love is trust. I am sorry if you thought I was nothing more than your _whore_.”

The next part happened too fast for me to see, Alice was on the ground and Emmett was in front of Rosalie. I couldn’t see much of her but the distance between them was millimeters. He leaned into her and said quietly, just low enough I almost couldn’t hear him. “You were never a whore to me, Rosalie. I did love you.” He looked back at me.

“It is time we leave. I am supposed to tour you around this place before you begin work.”

_Vampires can love humans?_ I wasn’t sure which of us was asking that. Was it possible for that to work? An immortal love a mortal… I thought back to the kiss I’d shared with Aro, it had made me uncomfortable at the time, it still did. But had Aro loved me? Is that why I’d been sent away? _Oh, Bella. We are so stupid. Of course that is why. There has to be more to the story than both sides revealed in this little argument. You need to pry._

_Last time we pried it caused problems._

_It doesn’t matter._

Of course we were a curious person, it didn’t matter whether it was the right thing to do or not because curiosity got the best. I thought of how to approach it as Emmett pulled away from Rosalie. She stared at his back as he walked away from her and back out the door, I quickly followed behind him.

 

Emmett had been really playful those first few hours but his entire stance was predatory.

We walked in silence through the dinner hall before going through the door to the hallway that lead to his room. “Thank you for following me, Isabella.”

“Why?”

“If I hadn’t had you there to threaten I would have killed my sister.”

“Glad to be of service.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” We turned a corner, he shook his head.

“Then what did you mean? You just implied that you nearly killing me kept your sister alive.”

“It occurred to me while when I saw you that maybe you were friends with Rosalie. I thought you might do what you did.”

“I almost didn’t. I almost let you kill me.”

“Why did you do it then?”

_Because we are selfish._ “She told me to.”

“Who is she?” He stopped dead in his tracks, causing me to run into him and stumble back.

“Can I tell you while I sit? It’s a long story.” He nodded and we walked back to his room. We both sat on his bed and I took the glasses off. The light in here was dull enough I didn’t need them.

“When I first arrived in Volterra she started talking to me…”


	7. Seven

**_8 years ago_ **

“Isabella!” It had been two weeks since mom and dad had left me here. Aro told me that they would be back soon.

_Bells, this isn’t right. You know that. Something is wrong._ I scratched at the side of my head, trying to get rid of the lying voice. Aro had told me that it was normal for little kids to hear voices. _Please, Bells. Ask questions, find out more._

I shook my head as I ran down the hallway. It was so cool. The lanterns on the walls made everything seem so much more interesting. I jumped into Aro’s arms as I turned the corner. I’d asked him why his skin was cold and he’d told me he had anemeuh.

_If we weren’t so messed up in the head you’d realize that. Bells._

“Did you write your diary entry for today?”

“I did. I spelt everything right. Look and see.” I pulled the small journal out of the bag I had draped over my shoulder. He moved me into one arm and opened it with the other.

“That you did. I was talking to Jane and she wants to teach you classes. Are you okay with that, Isabella?”

“Like school?” I stuck my tongue out in disgust. _We are never going to leave here._

“It would only be for a couple hours. After that you could go back to causing chaos with everyone.”

I frowned. “Only a couple?”

“I promise.” _Bells, remember when mom and dad told us not to take candy from strangers._

_He isn’t a stranger, he’s Aro. We know him._ At the same time I said this she projected herself in behind Aro. I screamed and tried to scramble away. She had bright blue hair and a narrow face with constantly changing eyes. She couldn’t have been any bigger than me.

“Isabella. Calm down. It’s okay.”

“I can see her.” Tears streamed down my cheeks. “She made herself real.”

He turned so he was facing her.

_“Bells, please. Please, don’t listen to him.”_

“Go away!”

“Where is she at, Isabella?”

I buried my face in his chest. “Right in front of you.”

“Look forward. I want to show you something.”

He reached out his hand right where she was and his hand…went through her.

“She isn’t real, Bella.”

“But…”

“If you let her in she will continue to bother you.”

_Bells please. Don’t push me away. I am trying to protect you._ As she spoke in my head her physical form disappeared.

“Okay.”

“I am going to take you to class with Jane now.”

 

Jane had always made me nervous and now I was alone in a room with her.

_“Bells.”_ She materialized again and I shook my head. You aren’t real. You aren’t real.

“Are you okay, Isabella?”

“She’s there again…” Tears streaked my face.

“Who is she?”

“I don’t know. First she was in my head and now I can see her.” She tilted her head curiously.

“Where is she?”

“Right in front of me.

_“Please, Bells.”_

“Aro told me she isn’t real.”

She looked at the spot in front of me, the girl fell forward screaming in pain. I covered my ears and shook my head, tears streaming down my cheeks. She stopped screaming the second I covered my ears and curled into a ball on the ground, crying. Jane was staring at me.

“Are you okay?” She asked after a moment.

I nodded. The girl faded away but I could hear her crying.

“Let’s begin our lesson.” She said after a few moments.

 

I was sitting in my room on my bed picking a small meal I had been given with a work. It had been two months now, I was starting to listen to her.

_Bells, they’re coming. You have to eat._

_How are we going to get out of here?_

_I don’t know but you have to act compliant until then._

I took a bite of the food and sighed. I had begun to notice the small details. Quick appearances of people, the quiet whispering.

The door to my room opened and Aro stepped in, his eyes held a sadness to them. “I have some bad news for you, Isabella.”

“What is it?”

I took another bite. _He’s going to tell you our parents are dead. He’s going to lie and say it happened recently but we know it happened the day we got here._

I swallowed the food as he sat down next to me.

“Last night your parents were flying in.”

“They’re dead.” I said it bluntly. Meeting his eyes in a challenge.

“What do you know, Isabella?” He asked after a moment.

“What I’ve figured out, you told me she was a liar and wasn’t real. Then Jane made her hurt. I realized then that I should listen to her.”

“I will never hurt you, Isabella. I tried to save your parents but they were dead already.”

_Lies._

“You are lying to me, Aro. I forgive you though.” He stared at me. “I know I am young. My mind doesn’t work right. It’s why my parents death doesn’t hurt me. You have treated me well since I got here.”

“Just like that?”

“You are vampires, right?”

He nodded slightly.

_“I told you, Bells.”_ She materialized in front of me again and I smiled.

_This isn’t over is it?_

_“There is still more to learn. We need to get out of here and I have a feeling Aro will not let that happen.”_

“Aro, I want to leave.”

“I can’t let you leave.” He stood and walked towards the door. “You will continue classes with Jane.”

I closed my eyes and laid back on the bed, I had to open them as she climbed onto the bed and sat down next to me before laying back.

_“We will get out of here.”_

_How?_

_“We need to make friends. Find someone we can trust.”_

_Who can we trust?_

_“I will start to look. I would like to learn more.”_

_We are curious aren’t we?_ I smiled, finally comfortable with her.

 

_Marcus._ She finally decided. It had been another three months, we were walking down the hallway towards the throne room. _He’s the weakest link. He doesn’t care about anything or anyone._

_But Chelsea is bound to be keeping him loyal._

_Chelsea has limits. We need to befriend him. If we can accomplish that_

She projected herself next to me as we walked.

_“it will weaken her influence on him.”_

_Even if that is the case, it takes time for her power to wear off._

_“We will wait.”_

 

It had taken months but Marcus had finally started seeing us as friends and very slowly the change in him was noticeable. The problem was that Aro and some of the others had noticed it as well. My time around Marcus had been cut down significantly. I needed to talk to him. He was my key to escape.

_“We will sneak out tonight.”_ We were sitting on my bed next to each other, I had grown rather fond of her and wondered if she would ever leave me. It left me with a sadness at the idea that I might be alone again.

_Do you have a name?_

She paused. _“You have never asked me that before.”_

_We are curious._

_“I don’t have a name. Not that I remember.”_

_What about Dol?_

_“Tired of calling me voice?”_

_Don’t judge me._

_“I don’t judge you, Bells.”_

_Will you ever leave me?_

_“I don’t know.” I looked over and she had a sad look in her eyes._

_What are you, Dol?_

_“Full of curiosity today, aren’t we?” I narrowed my eyes before she smirked and continued. “I am not a voice in your head from your breaking sanity. You are in a very rare situation, I have proven myself more than just a figment of your imagination.”_

_Jane._

_“Yes. When she sent me that pain, something we didn’t know she could do at the time. It proved to you as well as the vampires that I was more than just something in your head.”_

_You still haven’t told me what you are._

_“I don’t know what I am, Bells. Maybe one day we will learn but for now I will just call myself your friend.”_

_Okay._

_“Now we have to talk to Marcus.”_

I nodded my head and slipped out of bed, going to the door and moving quietly down the corridors towards the throne room. She stayed close beside me, her hand going through mine. Only if she was solid.

_“If we die tonight it is my fault.”_


	8. Eight

“I don’t know much about her. I don’t think either of us remember my first few years with the Volturi other than that my parents were killed by them.”

_Now you talk about me. I bet you’ll ignore me now. But to answer your curiosity, no, I don’t remember much about what led to me disappearing for years._

“She doesn’t remember either.”

_Wow, you acknowledged my answer to another person. Good job._

“She was with me while we were there. She helped me through it.”

“Can she hear me?”

_I can hear everything you do._

“She can.”

“Do you have a name?”

Now that was interesting, I had never thought of asking about her name.

 _I didn’t when I came to you but…I think we had a conversation once and you named me…_ Did she just laugh. _You called me Dal or something._

_You can make your own name._

_I like Dol. It’s close to Dal but more O._ I had to laugh at that, this was the first time we weren’t bickering since she’d come to me.

“Dol. Her name is Dol.”

“I feel like you had more conversation with her than you shared.”

“I did.”

He nodded. “So…Dol. You said you were with Isabella here-”

“Call me Bella, Emmett.”

“Okay. You were with Bella when she was younger. She doesn’t remember much but do you remember any of it?”

_All I remember is segments of conversation, like when she named me. Even then it’s vague. I think…I think I used to project myself._

“Curious.”

“Curious?” Emmett looked confused, I bit my lip and grinned.

“Me and her are curious, constantly trying to learn things. That’s why I’ve pried. She talks me into doing it.”

“Curiosity can get you killed.”

“We know.”

“Do you know how you projected yourself?”

_I don’t._

“Projected?”

“This is so weird. I miss arguing with her about everything.”

“Well lost history in Volterra could contain information you could potentially use to get ranked up.”

_That would be nice. No more vamp teeth in our neck._

I realized I was letting her in. I needed to shut her out.

“Alice told me she was important for my future. If I’m the only one who sees her how did Alice know about her?”

“That is a conversation for you and Alice.”

I frowned.

 _Pry._ “So what was with you and Rosalie?”

He frowned. “Curiosity?”

“Both sides. What happened?”

“I don’t really know. When her father brought her out she had isolated all of her vampire half. She told you she was a half breed right?”

I nodded. _Find out what the other half is. She said her mom wasn’t human either._ “What is her not vampire half?”

“I am not going to make her any angrier at me by telling you that. When her father brought her in she was put up for bidding but he kept her off the menu. I quickly learned why.”

“You bought her.”

“I did. Her blood was like nothing I had ever experienced. No amount of SH could cut down the potency of it and since I have pretty weak self-control…I almost killed her.”

SH was a nearly extinct plant -Snowdonia Hawkweed-. In fact as far as the human world was concerned it is basically gone. They haven’t really found much about it but vampires did and when they did they quickly went to work, harvesting as much as they could and breeding it and farming it. SH cuts down on the potency of human blood making it possible for vampires to control themselves and not kill every human they feed on. Everything we eat is laced with it for very good reason. It also did things to our system that helped us recover from blood loss faster. Caius had called it the Dinner Plant before. If Rosalie’s blood wasn’t affected by it that meant she was in constant danger.

“After that I stopped feeding on her and we got her pulled off the menu. I bought her, every bit of her. I didn’t do the partial buy that I have on you, I bought her.” He shook his head and covered his face with his hands. “It wasn’t long before she started seducing me. I didn’t care, she was attractive and as long as I didn’t bite her she was safe.”

_I guess we can listen to his sad story._

“When any female human arrives they are put on birth control, a safety measure. Of course birth control doesn’t always work a hundred percent. She got pregnant.”

He paused.

“When she realized it she went to her father, asking him to abort her. I showed up just before the procedure, told her I loved her and that she couldn’t go through with this. Things went okay from there. She was pregnant with our baby. Everything was alright. Then…” He shook his head.

“I can’t tell you the rest. If I do I will be forced to give away a secret that isn’t mine to share.”

_Is he serious? I was getting into his little story._

“You should sleep, Bella. It’s late. I may get you pulled off the menu tomorrow since Victoria fed on you today.” He got up off the bed and was gone from the room.

_The story is like a puzzle. You need to interrogate Rose in the morning._

_I will try._

_Thank you for letting me in._

_What are you?_

_I don’t know, Bella._

 

 

 

When I woke the next morning it wasn’t of my own accord. It was to the sound of something smashing against the wall. I groaned and opened my eyes.

“Sorry, Bella! Didn’t mean to wake you up, stupid game glitches and I lose. There is no way I should’ve lost.”

“What are you _talking_ about?” I finally managed to get myself into a sitting position. “Shouldn’t you be bothering Rosalie?”

“She made it clear she doesn’t want to talk to me.”

_Thick headed males._

“By yelling at you? God I wish yelling at Aro got him off my back. Would’ve had a lot more leverage.” I shook my head.

“What are you talking about?” He was over by the TV, picking up pieces of his controller I assumed.

“Did you break your game?”

“This thing? I’m hardly worried about paying for a new one of these. Cost a penny of what I paid for you.”

“How much did you pay for me?”

“More than I should have. I just had to get hold of you before Edward could.”

 _That name again._ “Alice said he’d want me, why is that?”

“He’s got a thing for brunettes. The problem is he doesn’t have great self-control, it’s not too often we get brunette meals. I think Alice prompted me because she saw you dying.”

 _“_ _You both are about to be drug into something that I can almost guarantee will result in the death of at least one of you.”_ _That’s what Jane told us._

“Jane said either me or Rose would die here.”

“I really hope it’s you.” _Ouch._

“I can feel the love from you.”

“I love Rosalie, no offense, her life is more valuable to me than yours.”

“I understand. Most humans a food.”

“All humans are food.”

_Thick headed moron._

“You in a bad mood?”

“Sort of, I was going to lure you in as a Companion but now that Rose is back I would much rather have her back.”

 _Oh my God he’s horny_. Mental laughter, I had to compose myself, I had ‘assisted’ a few vampires around the guard over the years but I was _not_ soliciting myself out to Rose’s boyfriend…vampire…thing.

“You should try to talk to Rose again.”

“Maybe with you by my side. Nice bit of leverage. Love me again and I won’t kill your friend.” He paused when I stared at him. I hadn’t been really watching him but now I realized he was leaning against the wall with the broken controller in his hand. “I’m kidding. I’m not a heartless beast. I’m a mostly heartless beast. I do need to talk to her but not right now. We are going up.”

“Up?”

“Into town.”

 _Is he serious?_ I was stunned silent. The outside world. I hadn’t been in the outside world in eight years.

_I have never been outside. Make sure he isn’t screwing with us. Bella, ask._

I swallowed. “You aren’t screwing with me, right?”

He shook his head and smiled softly. “I heard you haven’t been to the surface in eight years. I thought you’d like it. We can stay until sunrise if you want to see the sunlight again.”

I felt tears at the corners of my eyes. _Oh my God, Bella! We’re going to the surface! He is going to take us to the surface!_ We were both little kids again, getting a present we wanted. That was when a girl materialized in front of me, I knew who she was. Bright blue hair and ever changing eyes. I vaguely recognized her from my foggy childhood but she was my age now. She had grown with me. I wanted nothing more than to hug her but I knew it would never happen.

 _“One of these days.”_ I looked at Emmett.

“When do we leave?”

“Now if you’d like, I got you off the menu for today.” I grinned.

“Let’s go.”

He headed for the door, I watched as Dol grabbed my hand, of course it was a figurative grab seeing as she wasn’t solid.

_One day soon._

_“Let’s go see the sunlight.”_ She said as I grabbed my glasses off a the bed and we followed Emmett out the door.


	9. Nine

We were now walking up a stairwell after going through hallway after hallway. Weirdly enough we didn’t encounter a single vampire or human while doing so. I’d have expected more guard around the exit to this place.

At the top of the stairwell I noticed the sound, a sort of thumping, and the wall seemed to be almost vibrating. When he pushed open the door we entered into a small room with dark walls and a small desk. Dol stayed close to me, if she was solid she would have been clinging to me. I knew how she felt. Now that it was so close I was actually terrified.

“Calm down, Bella. Nothing is gonna happen.”

“It’s been so long.”

“You’ll be fine.” He walked across the office and pushed a bookshelf to the side revealing another door. “I assume you don’t want to walk through a huge crowd of people dancing.”

I nodded as he pushed open the door. He led me out of it and I was bewildered. It was night time and we weren’t in a huge city but it was _outside_. I breathed in the air and looked around. There was a street in front of me with little buildings lit up from the inside. Cars parked along the road, a few people walking down the street. I looked up and stared in awe at the moon and stars. I had gotten to see it in Volterra in a few paintings but the real thing was so much more beautiful. The moon was covered in small indentures that if I hadn’t been paying immense attention I wouldn’t have noticed. The stars slightly twinkled in the sky. It was so beautiful, tears streaked my cheeks.

 _“It’s so amazing.”_ Dol was looking around in awe, she had never been outside according to her. Which either meant she never had been or she didn’t remember it. She only appeared in times of serious need or danger, was it possible she’d existed when I was young? Before I’d gone to Volterra? I didn’t know. I didn’t want to ruin her experience with my curiosity.

“Thank you, Emmett.”

“I’d thank, Alice. She is the one who suggested it. I know you’re in awe but I do have some things I need to do and it’s required I bring you with me.”

 _“I’ll catch up in a minute.”_ I could see tears falling down he cheeks, they weren’t like normal tears though, they had a bright array of colors that twinkled. I looked back at Emmett.

“Is it her?”

“She projected before we left.” We had talked a bit about it on the way to the exit, trying to figure out what had triggered it but neither of us could figure it out.

“Does she know how?”

I shook my head.

“Well, Dol. Congratulations on figuring it out. Maybe someday we will be able to see you.” She didn’t even seem to notice him, she was still staring at the sky.

“Let’s leave her.”

He nodded and we headed down the street in silence, I took in every sight I could, every table, every bush and tree. But I kept looking up because up was the true brilliance. The sky was something I know I had never acknowledged when I was young, in fact it was something my young mind could’ve cared less about. It was the sky, what was the worst that could happen?

Oh if I’d only known. It was amazing what you took for granted. I did want to see the sunrise, and the blue sky. I needed to see the blue sky again. We stopped a small store with a bright sign that said “24 Hours.” The sign above the door said “Ben’s Electronics and More”. We walked inside and were greeted by a boy no older than twenty, he had dark brown eyes and black hair with golden brown skin. He wore a pair of glasses which immediately confirmed my initial suspicion of his humanity.

“Hey, Emmett! Who’s the new girl? Is she taken?”

“Careful what you say, Ben.” A new girl emerged from a room at the back of the store. She had light brown hair and light brown eyes, her expression was gentle though she did eye Emmett warily.

“Come on, Ang. You know I’m just kidding.” He grinned. “So what are you looking for?”

“Busted my controller. Got any spares?”

“I can check but no promises. You keep buying me out.” He said as he headed into the room Ang had come from.

“What can I say? I have a temper.”

“So who is she?” She asked as I began looking around the store. The walls were covered in thin books with pictures across the front. I hadn’t seen anything like that before. There were shelves through the center that housed cases similar to ones I’d seen Emmett pull the game out of.

“This is Bella.”

“Did you buy her?”

“Of course I bought her, Angela.” So her name was Angela. Ang must’ve been a nickname. He began browsing the cases. “If it makes you feel better, I bought her to protect her from my brother.”

“I will never be comfortable with your kind.”

“And I really could care less. You’re lucky you’re still living after helping Rosalie out. I actually have no idea how you got away with that.”

 _Helping Rose out?_ I was confused and slightly lonely without Dol in my head. Strange wasn’t it, going from hating having her there to wanting her.

“The same way everyone else involved did. I was fortunate enough to be ‘ranked’” -she air quoted- “ high enough that I got dropped down rather than being killed.”

 _“It’s all so amazing, Bella.”_ I jumped and turned to see Dol standing there. _“The outside world is so beautiful.”_

I smiled gently at her.

_“Why didn’t you pry?”_

_It wasn’t my place to._

_“Well pry, I want to be able to stay outside.”_

I hesitated then moved to one of the shelves, going through them. “What do you mean she helped Rose out?”

Everyone was quiet now. “She helped her with the pregnancy.”

“You’re lying.”

“Fine. She was involved in Rosalie’s escape. Something I am sure you know about. Rosalie’s little stunt got nearly thirty humans and ten vampires killed.”

_“Why would she want to run so bad? What happened?”_

_I think this goes past just a bad relationship with Emmett._

_“We will need to interrogate him.”_

_Later._

_“Fine.”_

_Wow, you gave in on the first try. You’re getting soft._

_She snorted and I couldn’t help but grin. “As if.”_

I looked at my surroundings; Emmett was now at the back of the store in front of a counter I hadn’t really acknowledged before, in front of them was a semi clear back with controllers like the one he’d broken in it. Angela was leaning against the doorframe, eyeing Emmett.

“Do you know if Jessica’s store is open tonight?” Emmett asked as he handed Ben some money.

“I’m not certain. If it is she’s not going to be there.”

“Good riddance. I have half a mind to let Edward swoop her away.”

Angela gave him a look of pure hatred. “Oh for God’s sake, Angela. I was kidding.” He grabbed his bag and headed towards the exit.

“If I was given the opportunity I would burn your entire city to the ground.”

“I’m sure you would. Come on, Bella. Alice told me I had to get you into some new clothes.”

I hadn’t even thought twice about what I was wearing. I had worn a dress to my first encounter with Victoria but I wasn’t in one anymore. I looked down at myself and almost laughed. I was in a pair of black sweatpants and long sleeved white shirt.

 _“Come on, Bella.”_ I rolled my eyes and followed Dol out the door.


	10. Ten

We were done gathering clothes, Mike had acted similar to Ben towards Emmett. Overly hospitable. While I hadn’t cared much about him I noticed Dol’s interest piqued with him. He wasn’t that interesting to me. A blond haired blue eyed guy was nothing significant to me but apparently Dol thought differently. She had followed him around the store inspecting him, she was extremely curious about this boy and I did not share it, for once.

_“I think I’m in love, Bella.”_

_He doesn’t even know you exist._ The words were sharper than I’d intended but it was true. I was the only person who could see or hear her. Even Emmett probably went with my story thinking I was insane.

_“One of these days.”_

_Don’t get your hopes up._ Emmett carried the bag out the store, I looked over my shoulder and could swear Mike was staring at the spot where Dol was standing. _Come on._

She frowned but left the spot, Mike shook his head and looked at me, nodding his head once as if to say goodbye. I turned and walked out the door.

“So where to now?”

“I figured I’d feed you.”

_“We should try and pry about Rose again.”_

_No._

_“Come on, Bella. What harm will it do?”_

_We almost died last time._

_“Technically what I did eased our curiosity. It was you who chose to follow him.”_

Of course she was right. She hadn’t led me into life threatening situations. She’d just helped me ease our curiosity.

“Bella?”

“Yeah. I should eat.” I mumbled.

“Were you talking to her?”

“Yeah.”

_“He probably thinks we’re insane.”_

_Maybe I am._

_“After all this you are still in doubt? If only I remembered how I got it through your skull the first time.”_

“Let’s eat.”

 

After a bit more walking we arrived at a small building with “Emily’s Diner” written across the top. The outside walls were covered in windows and the door was also glass.

_“I suppose in a town where vampires roam break-ins are the least of their worries.”_

I ignored her as we headed inside. There were tables along the walls with seats similar to Emmett’s couch. I’d seen them before but I couldn’t quite remember what they were called.

“Hello, Emmett.” There was a taller table in the center with a young woman with glossy black hair, black eyes and copper skin. While her voice wasn’t welcoming it wasn’t hostile either.

“Hey, Emily.” Was that hostility in his voice?

_“I sense story. When we sit you need to ask.”_

I continued to ignore her.

 _“So we’re back to this? And here I thought we were good pals now.”_ She stepped in front of me, glaring at me. I stepped through her as Emmett headed to one of the tables.

“I’ll bring her the usual.” I heard her say from the counter.

“So, Bella. How long did you live with Aro exactly?” Emmett asked as we settled into the chairs, Dol pushing through me and sitting in the seat close to the wall.

I paused. “I was there for eight years of my life. I don’t remember much about the beginning.”

“How did you end up there?”

“My parents and I were visiting Volterra. We got a special tour of the underground city.” I flinched at the memory of glowing eyes, Aro’s eyes. “When we entered into the large room he had hold of me and was pulling me out before I knew what was happening.” I closed my eyes.

“He killed your parents then?”

“He lied to me, told me that my parents were going to come back.”

_“And I kept telling you that they were dead.”_

“Over the years I’ve forgotten most of my life before then.”

He looked thoughtful. “How much did they tell you?”

“Not much. Aro treated me well, he didn’t start using me until I turned sixteen, I was educated.”

“They attempted to induce Stockholm Syndrome on you. Treat you as an equal until you believe they are the good guys.”

“What’s Stockholm Syndrome?”

“It is a case in which prisoners or hostages begin to feel positive about their captors. Believe that they are good.”

“That’s not-”

_“It is.”_

“You left without a fight though, right?”

“I did.”

“They didn’t succeed. At least not to the fullest potential. We rely on Stockholm Syndrome though. It’s how we keep the humans in the city from running, we get the occasional odd one out like you or Rosalie who know that they are prisoners, the ones that want to run.”

“So are you going to kill me because I’m free of mind?” I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in question.

He laughed and shook his head. “If we killed all the humans that were like you and Rose there would be no enjoyment. What fun is having a bunch of humans completely compliant? The fighters are the enjoyable ones.”

I looked up as Emily came over to our table, laying a plate of food in front of me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that revelation, I’d never really thought about why all the other humans were content with their entrapment. I had always accepted I was a prisoner but never really fought it, was I experiencing Stockholm?

_“I don’t think we will be able to know if we are.”_

I picked at the plate of vegetables and steak that was on my plate. “Does she put SH in the food?”

“She knows if she doesn’t the human who eats it is bound to die.”

A strange melody started playing and Emmett reached down into his pocket. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Dol moved to his side as he pulled a phone out of his pocket, putting it up to the side of his head.

I could faintly hear the sound of someone speaking from the phone, about a millisecond after I heard the sound of speaking Dol spoke. _“Emmett?”_

“I’m still out, what do you want?”

 _“Edward came by here since you were gone. Zafrina, Kachiri, and Senna have requested to have Bella appear before them. They wish to offer her Dari status in exchange for information on the Volturi.”_ Again she was saying everything almost at the same exact time

He was silent for a moment before speaking. “I will tell her. Sunrise is about to start so I am going to take her to watch it then we’ll be heading back down.”

 _“I will see you later then.”_ He pulled the phone away from his head and slid it back in his pocket, getting up.

“Ready?” I glanced at Dol who was glaring at me, clearly she was angry at me for ignoring her.

_“Ask him.”_

I hesitated then spoke, “what was that about?”

“I’ll tell you later. If you want to watch sunrise we need to hurry.” I did want to watch sunrise so I nodded as we headed for the exit.

 

We walked to the east edge of the town which wasn’t far out, there was a small hill that we sat down on and it wasn’t long before the light began to show. I had never paid attention to the sunrise as a child, it had never interested me but now it was something majestic and felt as though it happened too quickly. The ground in front of me began to light as the sun began to peek over the horizon. If it wasn’t for the glasses I wouldn’t have been able to handle the amount of light the beautiful orb was putting off. The sky went through several beautiful color changes, shades of purples, reds, oranges. I didn’t want to look away. I could sense Dol next to me, probably watching in the same fascination as me. Sunrise. I absorbed every ounce of it and knew then. It was guaranteed. No matter what, I would return to the surface for good. I would kill anyone who got in the way. _I will make it back to the surface for good._

 _“We will do it together.”_ I peeked at her out of the corner of my eye and saw she was crying, silent but it was still crying. I wanted to comfort her but I couldn’t, not really.


	11. Eleven

Dol was curious. She was always curious. Sometimes the curiosity drove her mad. Her world was the biggest question though. Why did she exist? Why couldn’t they remember their time together in Volterra? Why could she see no color in a beautiful world when she was projected?

The biggest question in existence. _Why?_ A question as old as life itself. When she reawoke from her sleep she could not recollect the reasons why she was gone then back again. The in-between time of when she left, which she still did not know why, and she returned seemed like centuries unaccounted for. Even if it was only a few years. But _Why?_ Why had she been taken from Bella then returned.

She pondered this as Bella lay down to sleep. She couldn’t return into Bella’s mind, she was stuck in her own form. Not solid and not real. She noticed the times that Bella decided she was insane and Dol was not real because she made it so painfully obvious. Nothing was worse than the curiosity other than the one person she could use to express it ignoring her.

Dol watched as Emmett left the room, she debated before finally pressing after him.

What was she? The question filled her again and again. At least humans knew what they were, vampires knew what they were, but what was Dol? She was trapped as part of the mind of a singular person but also somehow able to roam separate from her, hear things Bella herself couldn’t.

“Emmett!” She had been absentmindedly following Emmett through corridors but this hall he turned down had the small girl, Alice, standing there. “Did you talk to her?”

“I didn’t get the chance to.”

“You have to take her to them tomorrow. If you don’t Vladimir may demand her and ours to appear before him and demand why she has not been interrogated.”

“She doesn’t know anything, Alice. If we bring her there and she doesn’t give the information necessary.”

“You can’t afford to care about her, another slip up and you will be deranked. If you do get deranked there will be one less reason to keep Rosalie ranked as she is.”

“Don’t think I don’t realize that, Alice.”

“You have to take her to them tomorrow.”

Emmett closed his eyes and sighed. “Okay. I will. Can you keep Edward away from there?”

“I think he is on guard duty for them tomorrow.” Dol turned and headed in the opposite direction, worried now. What was in store for Bella tomorrow? What would happen? Why exactly was Emmett so hesitant to bring her to them?

Oh the questions that she needed answers to. It was killing her on the inside. She turned another corner and went straight through a new vampire. He stopped dead in his tracks.

“Who is there?”

Was there anyone else around? She paused a few steps behind the vampire.

“Turn around.” She turned and was now facing a vampire. He had a messy head of hair that was a lighter color though in the colorless world it was hard for her to tell.

“What are you?”

_If only I knew._

He seemed to be looking at her though he didn’t see her, she began to feel uncomfortable. What does one really say to something that exists but doesn’t and what does that creature really ask a creature who can hear her but can’t see her?

She finally turned and bolted through several walls coming out in another hallway. She was lost in this underground city. Occasionally down the hall she would spot a human pinned to a wall being fed on or more, what could the girl who didn’t exist but exist really do though? She was barely real. She rounded a corner and was shocked to see Alice standing there.

“I cannot see you nor hear you but assuming I got the timing right from my vision you should be here now. You know who I am but I know nothing of you. I may never know. I was sent a vision that I must share with you. In the future, you and Bella will be faced with a choice. A choice that will affect more lives than one. I will understand reluctance on your part but I have to beg of you. Make the choice that you won’t want to.” Alice spoke, looking around, as if to see where Dol stood but no one could see Dol. Only Bella could see her. Only Bella could hear her. “As I told Bella, you are important. Remember that.” Alice turned and headed in the other direction after a moment of hesitation.

This was a strange night for Dol, she did not like it either. More questions to be asked than answered. The curiosity was killing her on the inside. It made her anger grow towards Bella. Why did she feel the need to ignore her? Did she think if she did Dol could go away? That she would? In some ways the idea of leaving Bella and never looking back were comforting but at the same time it was her job to protect Bella.

The _questions._ They hurt her brain. What was the saying? Curiosity killed the cat? Well curiosity was going to kill her. Her brain was going to explode from the questions, the questions without answers and the answers without questions.

She walked aimlessly through walls until she found herself back in Bella’s room. Meditation. Maybe if she meditated her brain could sleep? But could someone with an unsettled brain meditate? It was worth a try she decided as she sat down on the foot of Bella’s bed, pulling her legs up crisscross and putting her hands on her knees. She closed her eyes. Envisioning the beautiful sky, even if it was colorless it had been a beautiful sight. She hadn’t felt the need to question it. Her mind settled, finally, for a short while, she slid further and further into this state and felt something. She jumped as images filled her head. These images were familiar. Almost as if they were from another life.

Though they were younger it was most the same questions with a few more.

 _Please, Bells. Ask questions, find out more._ Bells _._ She’d referred to her as Bells. This was early on. Within the first few weeks. She could tell that much.

Another memory. This time in black and white though it was falling away. _Please, Bells. Don’t push me away. I am trying to protect you._

This next memory startled her out of her meditative state.

_You still haven’t told me what you are._

_“I don’t know what I am, Bells. Maybe one day we will learn but for now I will just call myself your friend.”_

_Friends_. Was it possible that they could be friends? Could Bella let that happen? She looked at the girl she was bound to. Could Bella accept her as a friend again? It was clear they had done it before. Ever since her return she had been so angry and mad at Bella but what if that was not how she was supposed to do it?

 _Friendship_. That was what she needed to attempt. She would be happy as Bella’s friend, friendship meant that she would trust her more and ask more of the questions.

 _Maybe_. Just maybe things wouldn’t be terrible. Maybe she could befriend the girl who saw and heard her.

 _Knowledge_. Could she help Bella retrieve her memories? Could they learn why they had their memories torn from them?

 _Buried._ They were buried; Dol had retrieved bits of her memories which meant they weren’t gone. They were just inaccessible without work. Maybe she could learn more. For now the questions didn’t matter, the need for Bella to be her friend was all that mattered for the first time since she awoke.


	12. Twelve

_“Bella!”_ I groaned and swatted at her, I was exhausted. After we’d returned from the surface Emmett had taken me to the garden area, he had told me it was his task for the day but I was pretty certain he was just trying to get a chance to talk to Rosalie. I had spoken to her briefly while we were down there but not long enough to pry, which Dol had pestered me about most of the time.

 _“Wake up! I need to talk to you.”_ I opened my eyes after a bit of complaining, I looked sleepily at the side of the bed. Dol stood there with a look of pure determination on her face. _“Bella.”_

“What do you want from me?” I asked groggily.

 _“I pulled up some of my memories.”_ I blinked then stared at her. Did I hear her right?

I hesitated before speaking, “what do you mean?”

 _“We were friends. Before we lost our memories we were friends.”_ Tears fell from her face. _“I mediated while you were asleep and uncovered some memories. Bells.”_

I don’t know why but my throat closed at that, I could feel my own tears fall. That name.

_“The names I refer to you as when I awake, I think they’re nicknames. I think that was what your parents called you.”_

_Bells._ I closed my eyes.

_“That isn’t all. Bella, something is going on today. You are being taken to someone today.”_

“Maybe they’ll kill me and get it over.” I closed my eyes, still exhausted.

 _“I met someone.”_ I had to look at her, I was probably staring.

“How did you meet someone?”

_“I don’t know, I walked through him and he stopped me. Well not physically. He asked who was here and when I turned around he was looking at me. Well not at me but at where I was. Like he saw me but didn’t.”_

“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

 _“He asked me what I was and after a few moments of silence I left. He made me nervous.”_ She paused and sat down on the edge of my bed. _“Then Alice caught me in the hallway. She said something about us having to make a choice in the future that would affect more lives than one.”_ She pursed her lips. _“She said we needed to make the choice we didn’t want to.”_

“That’s all she said?”

_“I couldn’t ask her.”_

This was interesting. She wasn’t sitting here demanding for me to go ask questions. She was just talking.

“How did you get your memories?”

_“I meditated. I didn’t get many of them but some of them.”_

“Do you think I could?”

 _“I don’t know, Bella.”_ I closed my eyes and could feel sleep trying to take me away again.

“How long did I sleep?”

_“Maybe an hour or two. I don’t really know how long I wandered around or how long I was meditating for.”_

I smiled lightly, exhausted. “Can I sleep for a while more?”

 _“Yes.”_ She paused before asking. _“Bella?”_

“Hm?” I asked already drifting off.

_“Can we be friends?”_

I wasn’t sure how to answer that question so instead I let myself fall into sleep, letting the question infiltrate my dreams.

 

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When I woke I was a bit disoriented, I slowly struggled to sit up and focus on my surroundings. I blinked away the sleep in my eyes and saw Emmett sitting at the couch going through a folder, Dol was sitting there, staring over his shoulder.

“Morning.” He mumbled as he growled in frustration.

_“He has been looking for his documents stating he owned Rosalie.”_

_Why?_

_“I don’t know. He hasn’t said why.”_

I bit my lip and excused myself to the bathroom. When I came back Dol was sitting on the bed, crisscross with her hands on her knees. The folder Emmett had been going through was laying on my bed in pieces and he was pacing. “Alice said that Rosalie is going to get deranked and put up for sale. I don’t have the money to buy her again.” He grabbed his hair and I could tell he was trying not to tear it out.

“Is there any way you can get the money?”

“I could sell you, with the money I got from that I could buy her.” He shook his head in agitation, I didn’t really know what to say. If he wanted to sell me I really couldn’t argue it. We were property after all. “I’ll have to look into everything else but, Bella. If it comes down to it I will have to sell you. I like you but I love Rosalie.” He went over to a bookshelf I hadn’t really acknowledged and began going through folders on the bottom shelf. I faintly heard him growl under his breath. “Someone had to have stolen it.”

I looked at Dol, she was still sitting in that position. Was she smiling? I watched her curiously. What was she _doing_?

“You need to get dressed into something new. The Amoz want to speak with you. If you can give them useful information of the Volturi they may rank you up.”

“Who are the Amoz?”

“They are the female leaders of this group. There are the Amoz and Romaz. The Amoz consist of three sisters and Romaz of two men. Together they create our counsel. As part of an issue we had early on Amoz interrogate the women and Romaz the men however if for some reason the Amoz do not interrogate a woman or vice versa the other side can take on the case.”

While he was speaking I had been watching Dol who chose that moment to start screaming. She grabbed the sides of her head and crumbled to the floor, sobbing violently as her eyes opened and she looked around. I had never seen that much fear or pain in someone’s eyes. She looked at me as I dropped down next to her, she was shaking and crying still.

 _“It_ hurt _, Bella. It hurt so much.”_ Her words were shaky, golden tears streaming down her face.”

“Dol, what happened?”

 _“I was meditating. Trying to pull memories out. Trying to learn why we couldn’t remember.”_ She trembled, shuddering as she pulled her knees to her chest. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett watching me curiously. _“I found a memory. It was early on.”_ She shut her eyes. _“Jane.”_ She looked at me, neither of us needed to say what had happened. The second Jane’s name was mentioned it was obvious.

“It was just a memory.”

I wanted nothing more than to hug her and comfort her. I felt terrible because I couldn’t.

_“It was so painful, Bella. So painful. Their powers can affect me.”_

“That’s because you’re real.” I lay down next to her and laid my hand down. She covered mine with hers and I was certain, though it was lighter than a feather, I could feel her hand over mine.

 _“Don’t push me away anymore. When you do it’s worse than the questions.”_ I looked towards her face and could see the pain, the curiosity was what had made us a team but I had realized when we were on the surface that her absence was worse than the curiosity. Then again that brought more questions.

“We’re friends, Dol.” I could see her smile.

“Bella.” I looked up to see Emmett standing awkwardly in the doorway. “I need to take you to the Amoz.”

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

We went down another long string of corridors, it was strange how empty the halls always seemed to be. Where was everyone? Dol was skipping next to me and I couldn’t help but be bewildered. No questions, no curiosity. What had happened to her?

“I will not be allowed in with you.” Emmett finally spoke. “I recommend you answer all the questions that you get asked. They have someone who sits in on interrogations who can tell if someone is lying.”

“I have nothing to hide.” I said as we turned a final corner, on the other corner was a large doorway and…was that the sound of running water? I watched Dol walk through the door.

 _“Oh my God it’s so beautiful.”_ Her voice was full of awe, now I was curious. Whens he spoke again her voice was stressed. _“He’s here again. The one who saw but didn’t see me. He’s looking at me.”_ She came back through the door, looking extremely uncomfortable now.

The door opened, inside the ground was grassy and the room was dim. I blinked several times, thinking I was losing my sanity. I wasn’t. Were those _trees?_ Inside of this massive room were very large trees that reached all the way to the ceiling. There was the faint sound of birds chirping and I kid you not, there were snakes wrapped around the trees along with vines and moss. In the back, behind three large thrones was a beautiful waterfall. The water spread around the room in a small river type thing. In the thrones sat three very wild looking women in animal skin clothing. The three of them shared very dark brown eyes. I blinked several times, was I dreaming. I let my eyes skate the room again.

On the right side of the thrones sat a younger female vampire with bright red curly hair blue eyes. It was strange. She was physically younger than me, something I didn’t know could be done. Aro had mentioned the younger someone was when changed the more dangerous they were.

To the left was another vampire who was staring at me, making me uncomfortable. He had a very messy head of bronze hair and emerald green eyes.

I looked back at the three thrones, three beautiful terrifying looking women. I heard a low rumbling from behind them and watched in pure shock and terror as a large jaguar came from behind the thrones, sitting in front of the middle woman. This jaguar had to be three to four feet tall from paw to shoulder.

“Come forth, Isabella.” The middle woman spoke in a voice of welcoming. I swallowed and stepped forward, walking towards the three women and the jaguar who was watching me with curious eyes. That was strange.

 _“The male vampire. He’s the one. He heard me.”_ I held my hand out to my side, and could yet again, lighter than a feather, feel her hand rest beside mine. I stopped a few feet in front of the women and knelt.

“You are indeed from Volterra. You needn’t kneel. We are not royalty.” I stood, I noticed out of the corner of my eye the male vampire’s eyes watching me. “My name is Kachiri. These are my sisters, Senna is on my left and Zafrina is on my right. My jaguar friend here is Leah. She won’t bite.”

A low rumbling came from the jaguar as she laid down, her eyes never leaving me.

“To the left of us is Maggie, she will assure me that everything you speak is the truth. As for the one to the right, his name is Edward. He will assure me that whatever comes from your mind is the truth.” She tilted her head, looking at the spot where Dol stood. “Who might you be?”

The other two girls looked slightly confused, I stared at her.

 _“You can see me?”_ Shock was in Dol’s voice, the Jaguar was now looking at the same spot with curiosity.

“I can. I will presume that my sisters cannot. Interesting.” She looked back at me, a small smile playing on her expression. “It appears we have much to learn about each other. I however am obligated to ask you a few questions from your stay with the Volturi.”

I was still in shock, we both were. She could see Dol. She could hear Dol. I wasn’t completely insane. Why could she see her?

“I cannot hear Isabella’s thoughts.”

Kachiri grinned. “Oh we have much to discuss. Let’s begin with some questions though, Isabella.”


	13. Thirteen

“I suppose we should quickly test that Maggie’s ability works on you, seeing as Edward cannot hear your mind.” Kachiri paused. “Tell me a lie, Isabella.”

I paused, a lie? Hm… “I hate Dol.” I saw Dol flinch out of the corner of my eye.

“That is a lie.” Maggie said quietly, watching me. Dol seemed to relax at that.

“Now tell me a truth.”

“Part of me will always believe Dol is not real.”

Maggie nodded. “Truth.” I looked fully at Dol who smiled sadly at me.

 _“It’s okay.”_ She mumbled and looked back at Kachiri.

“How long were you in Volterra?”

“Eight years.” I closed my eyes.

“During your time there how were you treated?”

“For the first six years I was raised as Aro’s child. I don’t remember much about this time period.”

“She does.” Edward nodded his head towards Dol. “She knows more about when they first arrived there than Bella. She has been meditating to retrieve her memories.”

Kachiri straight up ignored Edward. “Did they ever tell you anything about our group or city?”

“I did not know of your city’s existence until the day I was to be sent away.”

A low growling came from Leah who moved to stand just as the door flung open. “Get your hands off of me, Emmett.” Everyone’s attention moved to Rosalie who stood in the door with Emmett close behind her.

“You better have good reason for interrupting this interrogation, Rosalie.”

“I do. Laurent, would you please escort Emmett out of the room.” I hadn’t noticed him before but standing as guard for this door was the same olive skinned vampire I had encountered in the dinner hall when I first arrived. He moved to shut the door in Emmett’s face as Rosalie moved through the center of the room towards us, her eyes were going from one of us to the other to the other. Her eyes lingered on Leah and I could see agitation though I didn’t know why.

“Bella here will be unable to answer your questions because she cannot access them. When I first arrived in Volterra a few years ago I was nosy, I spied a lot.” She pushed past me, through Dol, and stopped in front of us. “I stumbled onto some information that if they had learned I had learned would have probably gotten me killed. When Bella arrived there she brought with her something that they could not explain, this something scared them because it knew things. A lot of things. The problem is how do you get rid of something that you cannot see or hear?”

She turned and looked at me for a brief second before looking back at Kachiri. “I don’t know everything but they did something to them that made them forget almost everything. The questions you have to ask, Bella may have known the answers to in the past but she doesn’t now.”

“How about you, Rosalie? Did you learn anything?” One of the other girls spoke, Zafrina if I remembered right, tilted her head curiously.

“I know a couple things.” She let out a low breath. “If I tell you this I want Bella pulled off the Menu and a guarantee that Edward cannot buy her.”

“That’s not fair.” Edward growled, stepping forward.

“Edward.” Kachiri’s voice was warning enough, he bared his teeth but stepped back. “If the information you share is worthwhile I will grant Bella’s removal from the menu, however I cannot make a choice on Bella’s sale status. That is a choice your mate must make.” Rosalie flinched at the word “mate”.

“The Volturi have been preparing, they intend on making a move. Marcus mentioned it to me before I left.” She hesitated.

“They have another human who was raised there.” Edward sounded agitated, boring holes into the side of Rose’s skull with his eyes.

“He is part shifter.” Leah’s ears perked at this, she stood for a brief second before Kachiri looked at her and she dropped into a sitting position, her tail flicking in agitation.

“I do not know much of him but they intend on sending him here. He is very loyal to the Volturi. He has been in Volterra since birth.”

How had she learned of this? How did I not know this? I had been there eight years, how did I not know this.

 _Shifter._ Dol caught my attention, not speaking verbally but mentally, ever so faintly nudging her head towards Leah. Shifter. She was a shifter. Why did she stay in her animal form then? Why not shift and introduce herself? I let my eyes meet Leah’s and I knew, the look said everything. She was trapped.

“Isabella should leave.” Edward said hostility potent in his voice. “Information is dangerous.”

“We will speak later, Isabella.” Kachiri said she glanced at Leah then Dol. Leah stood up and moved forward.

“I’ll come by your room later, Bella.” Rosalie mumbled. I took the hint and headed for the door, Dol followed me, knowing she couldn’t spy on the conversation with Edward and Kachiri in there. I could faintly hear Leah following us. Once we were a bit away Leah moved in front of me and pushed into a room, using her head to push the door open, she stood in the doorway and motioned her head towards it. I shared a glance with Dol before stepping inside. Leah followed us into the mostly dark room and closed the door using her head again. She sat down in the doorway and looked at the two of us. The room was small, there was a bit of light coming from the corner but I didn’t really look too much into it.

 _“What do you want?”_ Dol asked curiously.

She growled lightly and flicked her tail.

“How come you can’t shift? You are a shifter right.” She growled at that, agitation on her expression.

 _“We need a way to communicate with her.”_ Dol said and sat on the floor. _“Hold your tail still.”_ Leah tilted her head and did so. _“If your answer is yes move it to your right and if it is no move it to your left.”_

She nodded slightly and looked at me. “Are you a shifter?” I asked hesitantly.

She moved her tail to her right, my left. Okay. She was a shifter.

“Can you shift?” She moved it to her left. The reasonable question to ask next was why but that wasn’t a yes or no question.

 _“I will say the ABCs. You can spell, right?”_ Dol said after a moment.

She flicked her tail to the right again, her eyes never leaving me.

“Why can’t you shift?”

 _“ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS…”_ She growled, interrupting Dol.

“S?” She flicked her tail, leaving it on her right side.

After a moment Dol did it again. _“ABCDEFGH…”_ She growled and stood before she began pacing.

H? SH. Wait. “SH?” She looked at me, pure sadness on her expression. SH. The herb that kept blood potency down, was it keeping her from shifting? “SH keeps you in your jaguar form?”

She nodded her head slightly. Her tail twitching behind her, agitatedly.

“Can’t you just not eat it?” She nudged her head at the wall, there was a small little lever thing. I stood up and flipped it, the room was washed over with light and I had to blink rapidly to help my eyes adjust. Leah was now laying down on the floor on her back. I knelt down by her and had to cover my mouth. Her stomach was covered in scars, I hadn’t noticed it before because I hadn’t paid attention but there was barely any hair on her underbelly. The marks made me want to cry.

“Do they cut you open to inject it?” Her tail flicked to the left. I thought for a second but couldn’t think of anything.

 _“Do they torture you if you don’t eat?”_ Tears welled in Leah’s eyes as her tail moved to the right.

“I’m sorry, Leah.” I mumbled as Leah rolled over and pushed herself up onto her feet, she moved towards the door and pawed at it. I followed her over and opened it. We walked in silence as she led us back to the room.

 _“I need to be careful around the mind reader, right?”_ Dol asked her when we stopped outside the door. Leah’s tail flicked to the right before she turned and left us standing outside the door. _“I think Rose is half shifter.”_ Dol mumbled as I turned and opened the door, stepping inside and laying down on the bed.

 _Why can’t I just be a normal human being?_ I thought as my eyes closed, exhaustion pulled me to sleep.


	14. Fourteen

I awoke with a massive headache. What time was it? I groaned and opened my eyes, looking around the room, trying to recollect my thoughts.

I felt like I was forgetting something important. What was it though? I looked to my right, Dol was passed out on the floor. _Okay. Focus._ I went through the events of yesterday in my head. I remembered going to see the Amoz, Rose had showed up and said something…I pried at the memory but I couldn’t figure out what she had said. I groaned. After that I had been sent back to my room…Leah had led us here. I struggled more with the memory. We walked out the door then I somehow ended up laying on the bed. Where was the rest of that memory?

Dol sat up slowly, catching my attention. _“Something isn’t right.”_

No kidding, what was it though? What had happened? The door to the room opened and Rosalie slipped inside. Her right eye was black and she had puncture wounds in her left arm that very much matched Leah’s teeth. The wounds were bleeding heavily and her skin was extremely pale. She crumpled to the ground next to the door and I was at her side in a second. Dol joined me next to her.

“Holy crap, Rose. What happened?” I tore off my shirt and wrapped it around her arm carefully, she tried to hide the pain it caused to have the wounds touched.

“I made Kachiri and Edward mad.” She mumbled tiredly. “My own fault really.”

“Stay with me. Stay awake, Rose.” She looked directly at Dol. “I can see you, you know?” Her eyes fluttered close.

“Rose! Rose!” I grabbed her face and made her look at me, her eyes opened slightly. “You told me if you lived off human blood you would be more vampire, correct?”

“Yes.” She mumbled sleepily. She was losing so much blood.

“Stay awake. Rose, stay awake.” I looked around the room, please tell me he left something I could cut myself with. Please please please.

Dol was moving around the room, going through things, literally, moving through them. _“Here.”_ She was standing inside of the table the TV was on.

“Rose, stay awake.” I left her quickly and knelt down, there was glass on the front. I held my breath and used the side of my arm to break the glass, I ignored the pain of the glass shattering and grabbed one of the larger pieces. I ran back to Rose’s side and slid it across my wrist, causing the blood to flow freely from my arm.

When I put my wrist to her mouth she blinked weakly, I watched as she swallowed the blood that poured from my wrist, slowly she became more aware and in seconds she bit down.

I had been bit many times on both my arms and neck but the problem was her teeth were not vampire teeth, her teeth were human teeth. Omnivore teeth. While some of her teeth were meant to bite into meat the rest were not and I would be lying if I said I didn’t scream. It hurt like Hell. I would have happily taken predator teeth to my arm at that moment because at least those were meant to pierce flesh to the fullest extent.

 _“Bella, focus. Look at me. Stop crying.”_ Was I crying? I felt her feather light touch as she laid her hand over my shoulder.

“Holy crap!” The first two words as the door opened and Emmett came into the room. He knelt down by rose and carefully pried Rosalie away from me. “What happened to her?” Rose curled up in his arms as he pulled her into them, I could see it though. Her skin taking on the vampiric texture as her arm began healing over.

“I don’t know. She said she made Kachiri and Edward mad.” I heard a low growl in his chest. “Cover your wrist, Bella.” He carried Rose over to the bed and laid her down.

_“Bella, look at me.”_

_I’m okay._ I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, holding onto my wrist with my hand. I could feel the skin bruising.

“How did you know to do that, Bella?” I turned and sat crisscross, now facing Emmett. Rose was shaking with her back to me.

“She mentioned it, she told me if she drank human blood she could identify as vampire and vice versa.” He stroked her hair gently. “I figured it was worth a shot.”

“Even if your blood might have gotten you killed?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t really think about it. I suppose though if you were telling the truth about her blood she would have been in much more danger than I would’ve been.” I looked at Dol, surprise filled me. “Dol, you allowed me to put my life in danger?”

 _“I did.”_ She bit her lip nervously and sat down next to me. _“I didn’t think selfishly for you.”_ She looked at Rosalie. _“She said she could see me.”_ Dol looked at me again, a million things running through her eyes. _“Bella, I’m scared.”_

“Bella.” I looked at Rosalie who rolled over onto her back. “Are you okay?” Her eyes had that glow that vampire eyes had.

“I’m okay.” She looked at Emmett, letting out a low sigh. “I suppose I should thank you as well, Emmett.” She moved up into a sitting position.

“There is no need for thanks. You should know that by now.”

“I still haven’t forgiven you.” Her eyes closed as she sighed again. “But I suppose I can quit the silent treatment.”

 _“Rose?”_ She looked at Dol, smiling gently.

“I don’t really know what to say to you. I know why I can see you but I don’t believe I am permitted to tell you.” She smiled sadly.

_“What does that mean though?”_

“You will learn in the future.” She pursed her lips and looked at Emmett. “You won’t find your documentation on me because I had Alice take it.” He looked agitated at that. “I do love you, Emmett. That will not change but right now, after what happened. I can’t deal with you.”

 _Bella, butt in._ I looked at Dol who was watching the encounter curiously.

_You’re kidding me, right?_

_What can I say, I’m curious._ I looked back at the two to see Rose narrowing her eyes at us.

“Care to share with the class?”

I hesitated. “Dol wants me to ask more about what happened with you two.”

Rose laid back, sighing. “Oh where do we begin?”

“Maybe this can shed some light for both of us.” Emmett said as he sat down on the floor.

Rose paused before beginning.


	15. Fifteen

A million questions existed, a million things Dol wanted to know the history of. Rose _knew_ things about her. Probably knew _what_ she was. Even if she wanted to know _what_ she was she knew she wouldn’t get that out of Rose. She settled on curiosity of Rose’s history with Emmett because it was a question that silently gnawed at both her and Bella.

“As you know, I was born in a slaughterhouse after Carlisle fell in love with my mother.” She pursed her lips. “I failed to share some information about this with you though. She died during my birth four years ago.” Dead silence.

 _“How?”_ Dol spoke, gaping at the girl in front of her who couldn’t be younger than eighteen. It wasn’t possible.

“Hybrids. For some reason when a vampire knocks up another species the baby grows at an accelerated rate.”

“You said ‘species’, you said your mom learned she wasn’t human last time.” Bella said it at the same time Dol thought it. This is why they were close. They thought the same way.

“My mom was a Werewolf. A child of the moon.” She closed her eyes, a tear falling down her cheek. Why did this bother Dol? Something about the term werewolf…

 _Leah._ The name rang in her head like a bell.

 _“Rose, what is Leah?”_ Rose blinked, slightly staring at Dol.

“Leah is a shapeshifter.” Rose said after a bit of hesitation, Emmett and her sharing a glance after she spoke. Why was this bothering her then? What was it gnawing at her? _Leah._ Something about Leah. What was it?

“After a couple years I was old enough to do physical labor. I had occasionally seen Emmett around. He didn’t really talk to anyone.” She paused. “Apparently something had happened with his human.” The two shared a glance. Another question for Dol. What happened to his human? Rose continued before Dol could ask her question.

“After I lost her I became depressed. That is until I met Rosalie.” Emmett spoke quietly.

“He bought me the second I was put up for auction. I think I had fallen in love with him before I’d even met him. I had watched him when I was working in the garden and other areas.”

“Rosalie-“

“Not now, Emmett...” The questions, oh the questions. _What_ happened to them? Clearly Emmett still loved her. “When he bought me he bought me for the half price which put me on the menu.” She paused.

“He mentioned that your blood isn’t affected by SH.” Bella and Dol shared a look, why did SH bother them so much now? What had they forgotten?

_“Rose, when we left the Amoz something happened afterwards. I don’t remember what it was. Neither of us do.”_

Rosalie glanced at Emmett.

“Rose.” She looked at Bella. “You two are keeping some things from us. I can understand that but…please.”

_“Curiosity is going to kill me, Rose. It drives me to the brink of insanity sometimes. Please. Just answer that question.”_

“You have to understand…” She closed her eyes. “Some things, if I tell them, could get me killed. Or Emmett killed.”

“What happened to your pregnancy?” Bella covered her mouth and Rosalie froze, where did _that_ come from? It was a great question that Dol had pondered when Emmett had dodged the question before but it was hardly on her mind. Rosalie appeared to hesitate, glancing between the two, a look of realization covered her expression.

“I…” She swallowed. “The pregnancy was bound to kill me, we didn’t know that hybrids couldn’t be changed by vampire venom. I guess my father never thought to tell us that. So I suffered. I starved and was slowly drained of life. It never even occurred to me.” Tears streaked her cheeks as she continued, “the full moon hit and I changed. We aren’t ourselves when we change. We are feral. Wild animals.”

Emmett hesitantly reached up and stroked her arm, she didn’t fight him as she continued. “I nearly killed Emmett that night and I killed the baby.” She swallowed. “I went into labor and when the baby…” Her eyes closed, pain and anguish on her face. “When I had the baby. I…”

“The wolf part of her didn’t understand what was happening. She was in labor and when she gave birth to our baby she freaked out and attacked, instinctively.”

Suddenly Rosalie’s expression was full of anger. “I mauled it. I bit into its little stomach and tore its insides out.” Rosalie got up and walked towards the door, glaring at Dol and Bella. “I ate its heart, its lungs, leaving nothing but the torn up corpse of a baby. My child. Are you happy now? Is your curiosity sated?” She looked directly at Dol. “While curiosity hurts, Dol sometimes it’s better to back the fuck out. You have been prying and pushing Bella to pry since you arrived here. Sometimes things are better left alone.” She threw open the door and stormed out, leaving Dol and Bella to gape after her.

Was curiosity wrong? Was asking questions the wrong thing to do? Was it better to…just live with the answers? Dol shook her head and jumped up, taking off after Rose and going straight through the door, she had to pause on the other side though, did the door fight her? It felt almost as though she couldn’t go through it…like…she was almost material…she shook her head. So many questions…

She followed Rosalie. _“Rosalie!”_

“Go away, Dol.” Her voice was threatening.

 _“You didn’t_ have _to tell us that! Rosalie!”_ Rosalie skidded to a stop and turned around, facing Dol now.

“You would’ve pushed Bella to keep asking. Dollera Lee Valentine. That is your name. The name you would’ve had at birth.” She stepped forward and Dol stepped back, was she being honest here? Her name? Wait. Would’ve had? What does that mean. “Do you want to know what happened to you? What you are? You are the essence of a shapeshifter. You are what happens when a shapeshifter dies at birth, you become and essence.” She stepped towards Dol who stepped back again, tears streaking her face. No. Dol wasn’t dead. She was alive.

“You aren’t supposed to exist, Dollera. When your body died you panicked. You latched onto the nearest child, the girl being born in the hospital room next to where you were dying. You aren’t _supposed_ to exist. You and Bella became a bonded soul when you ran from death. You are _dead_ Dollera.”

Dol stared at Rosalie as she reached out and…contact? Dol stared down at her arm that Rosalie had solid hold of. Rosalie closed her eyes, a tear streaking her face. “Dol, I’m sorry. I really am.”

Dol didn’t understand, what was happening? Why was she physical?

“I am so sorry. I had to tell you those things but they aren’t true. I am so sorry.” Then Rose was hugging Dol, crying now. Dol was trembling then she was hugging the girl in front of her. What had just happened?

“Dol, listen very closely to me. You are very much real, your existence relies on the humanity in you. The more emotions you feel the more physical you are. Fear, I had to push fear into you. I can’t tell you what you really are and I’m sorry but you are real. You exist. You cannot stop believing you exist.” She pulled away from a now crying Dol, what was the purpose of this? Why had she done it? No one could see her but now she was physical? What was the point?

“I don’t understand.” Dol spoke and was stunned, a real voice. Her voice was solid, like herself now. What had just happened?

“Look at me, Dol.” Dol looked at her, still stunned. “You are as real as you believe you are. As solid as you believe.”

What did that mean? Dol stared at Rose as she let go of Dol and turned, leaving Dol standing in the middle of the hall. She was so confused. She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them more shock. _Color._

The halls around her were beautiful red stones, the floor different shades of green and blue, marble if she remembered right. She collapsed to the floor, tears streaking her face. _Colors._ She hadn’t seen color since the last time she was trapped in Bella’s body. The _color_. Someone turned the corner and she froze, the mind reader, he was looking directly at her.

“You.” He looked stunned and agitated. He could _see_ her. Oh shit. “You’re the girl that I could hear but can’t see.” He sniffed the air and froze. “Your blood.” He breathed in as Dol began to back away. _Oh no. Dol, move. Move your feet._ “Oh, relax, blue hair. I have a lot more self-control than the average vampire.” He looked past me. “Alice is coming this way.”

Not ten seconds later the sound of heels clicking behind her made Dol turn around as pixie girl appeared.

“Oh, Dol.” Alice whispered as she hugged her, whispering in her ear. “Go back to the room, I will talk to Edward.”

Dol glanced at Edward before heading in the direction she had come from, a million questions circling her.


	16. Sixteen

After Dol took off I debated on what to do. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain that Rose had gone through after realizing she killed her child.

“She blamed herself.” I looked at Emmett who spoke absentmindedly. “She has never forgiven herself for it.” He closed his eyes. “She self-destructed after that. She tried to kill herself and when that didn’t work she…” He swallowed. “She tried to get me to kill her.” Pure anguish. “When that didn’t work she started acting like everything was fine. It worked for a while. I didn’t realize what she was planning. One day Sam came to me and told me she was planning on escaping and leaving me behind. He told me that she had been sleeping with him for the past two weeks. I believed him for so long…until when I talked to her in the garden I had believed him.”

He got up and started pacing. “I didn’t even ask her, I assumed. I went straight to the Amoz and told them of the plan at hand. While I was in there Leah slipped to the door and changed forms. I hadn’t seen her in her human form since I’d owned her.” He shook his head. “Apparently Sam had come to tell me that out of spite because he’d found out of the escape and hadn’t been invited. Fucking asshole. Leah barricaded us in and they had to start the escape then. Leah didn’t stand a chance against Kachiri’s ability though. She had enough time though. She got the message out. I will regret everything. What I did was unforgiveable and it got so many vampires and shifters and humans killed. I will never regret one thing though. Rosalie and several others did escape. It wasn’t all for nothing.”

“She got taken by the Volturi. In the long run was it really worth it?”

The door pushed open and I gaped at Dol who was standing in the frame, tears were in her eyes as she grinned at me. _Are you solid?_

She nodded and ran into the room, jumping into my arms and hugging me tightly, crying softly. I cried happily as I hugged her back, I had never thought this was possible. I didn’t think Dol would ever be able to touch me. To hug me. In all of our time together…never once.

“Who is that?” Emmett asked, staring at Dol with confusion.

“Emmett, meet Dol.”

He gaped at her. She pulled away from me and grinned at him. “I am real. She wasn’t insane.” She walked over to him and hugged him briefly before backing up.

“I had no clue…”

“I saw Edward in the hallway. He was the first person that saw me.”

“He’s been plotting on how to take Bella from me.” He paused. “He might very well use Dol to get ahold of you. If he gets you put up for sale because you are now solid…I doubt you’ll want to be split apart and I don’t have the money for both of you.” He growled in agitation.

“Why is it that you are so worried about him getting ahold of her?”

“Edward is a problem, he collects humans at lack of a better term. That is until he kills them. He claims it is by accident but everyone knows better.”

“I thought you had ranks that could be dropped by acting out.”

“The higher we’re ranked the harder it is to get us deranked. Bella, here’s the issue. When I got deranked I lost a lot of my pull, if Edward presses that button, which I don’t doubt he will, if you want to stay with Dol…”

“I’ll have to go with whoever buys her.” I spoke quietly. Just when things had gotten better for me and her they fell back down, right in the same breath.

“I’m sorry, Bella. I really am.”

“Let’s not think about that right now.” I closed my eyes and let out a low breath.

“Bella.” I looked at Dol again, time to confront the question at hand. I laid down on the bed and she joined my side as she had done many times since I’d first met her. She laid her hand in mine and I wanted to cry from the joy the contact filled me with.

“Ask.”

“How did it happen?”

She let out a deep breath, I was curious, did she breathe? _Focus, Bella._

“When I went after Rosalie she told me something…it scared me…a lot.”

“What did she tell you?”

“She…she told me I was dead. She said I was the essence of a dead shapeshifter…” She swallowed.

“That isn’t possible, is it?”

“She said she was lying.”

Dodging the question, we shared too much of a mentality for that to work. “Dol.”

“I didn’t think much after that, I wanted to come see you. But the more I think about it…I don’t know…it seems…what she said feels true…”

“Dol.” I rolled onto my side and hugged her, it was an awkward position to hug her in but I didn’t care. “How can you be a physical being if you’re dead? If you were dead you’d be trapped in your spirit form, correct?”

“I don’t know…” She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side so she was facing me. “Bella, it’s all so strange…and…how did Rose know how to make me like this?”

“Because you are a shifter.” The both of us jumped and Emmett hissed when the door opened to reveal Kachiri.

“Since when do you leave your throne?” Emmett’s voice was a growl, I’d actually forgotten he was here.

“I’m interested in your little pet.” She said, leaning against the door frame casually as the two of us sat up, throwing our legs over the edge of the bed. “Isabella and Dol. By far one of the most interesting things I’ve seen in years.” She looked at Emmett. “I am not the one responsible for the information of the rebellion leaking, you cannot blame me, Emmett. I did what I was obligated to do.”

“You could have let Leah do as she pleased.”

“What I was _obligated_ to do. It was _necessary._ I’m sure you can understand doing necessary things.” She looked back at the two of us. “Dol, you are a _very_ rare occurrence. You are a _very_ special shifter. I would like to…lend my hand out. An offer.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett stiffen. “Rather than having to deal with Edward I would like to offer to buy you.”

“Dol-“

“Do _not_ interrupt me, Emmett. That is the only warning you will receive.” He bared his teeth at her but spoke no more.

_I don’t trust her._

So that telepathic link was still there with us? _It is clear Emmett doesn’t either._

_What do I tell her?_

_No._

“I’d like to, with the utmost respect, decline. It is nothing personal.”

“I see that we will have to do this the difficult way then. Edward.” He appeared inside the door, the way he looked at me made my hair stand up. I did _not_ like this. Or him. “It seems that was have a rogue shifter and human on the premises.”

“She isn’t rogue-“

“This vampire has illegally taken a shifter onto the premises without the proper safety measures nullifying his rank and warranting execution. I would like you to take him into custody, Laurent, you are to take these two girls to the cages until we can decide the proper route.”

“This isn’t right!” Emmett shouted as Kachiri disappeared from the door, Laurent taking her place. “You can’t do this, Kachiri! I don’t care _who_ you are!” I shared a look with Dol, the situation was clear. We were trapped. Both of us were stuck here and there was no escape. Laurent was blocking the door and there were no windows. I swallowed. What would happen to us?

_If only you weren’t solid, you could get out of this._

_Maybe I can become unsolid. She said I’m a shifter._ She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, out of the corner of my eye I noticed Edward now had Emmett restrained. He wasn’t fighting though. He had a look of defeat on his face. I looked up as Laurent approached us.

“This will go a lot easier if you don’t fight, Isabella.”

“I won’t.” I didn’t have the energy to fight him and I valued my life. He looked at where Dol was sitting.

“Dol?”

She blinked and looked at him. “I won’t fight.”

“Then let’s go.” I looked at Emmett, he smiled sadly at me.

“Good luck, Bella.” There was no humor in his voice, he was scared, it was obvious.

“Thank you, Emmett. For everything.” This was goodbye. Kachiri had said execution. Even if they didn’t kill him it was very likely we would never see him again.

“Isabella.” I stood up slowly, Laurent turned and headed out the door with both Dol and I following.

 _We’re screwed._ I thought to Dol as we headed down the hallway.


	17. Seventeen

Laurent took them down a flight of stairs into a dark area with no light. Though she knew it was pitch black the room wasn’t, through Dol’s eyes, it was as though there was a light eternally in front of her lighting the way. Bella held tight to Dol as they followed the dark skinned vampire. Dol was thankful Bella couldn’t see anything.

The walls in the long corridor they were following were not stone walls like the rest of the place, they were covered with metal bars and behind those metal bars were animals. Dol knew the horrible truth though. They weren’t animals. They were shapeshifters. Dol felt a horrible sensation in her stomach. There were wolves and tigers and lions. There were pigs and sheep and horses. So many different types, each one was covered in dried blood and bald spots. There was the occasional table that was covered in knives and other objects. It was clear what this place was. As they progressed further the animals were replaced with humans.

The humans were in no better shape than the shifters, the big difference was the bite marks that covered them. Most the visible skin on each human was covered in vampire bites and animal bites. The sensation in Dol’s stomach finally caused her to collapse to her knees and wretch up stomach acid. There was nothing else, Dol had never been sick before and she’d never eaten. She had only been capable of said things for a few hours. She began crying, her tears were golden as they had been when she was invisible to the world.

Bella knelt next to Dol and rubbed her back, the sound seemed to have woken some of the humans in the nearby cages as Dol could now hear the sounds of groaning and other noises. She saw Bella lift her head and look around frantically, of course Bella couldn’t see anything, she had no idea the horrors that surrounded her and Dol was thankful for that.

“Dol.” Laurent had stopped, he was giving her a look that told her to get up, she slowly rose to her feet and helped Bella up. When they reached the end of the long hallway Laurent opened one of the cages.

“Isabella.” He grabbed her arm and Bella was pulled away from Dol, he shoved her into the cage, closing the gate behind her and locking it. He opened another cage, next to Bella.

“Don’t fight me, Dol. I don’t have the energy for it.” Dol swallowed and stepped into the cage, she was too drained to fight him. She was terrified, what would happen to them? The questions were endless. Would they be tortured too? What would happen to Emmett? Could Dol really go back to her spectral form? If she did would Bella get punished for it?

_Dol._

She crawled to the wall between them and leaned against it. They were both being quiet. “Bella. I am so sorry.” She whispered it against the stone. Could this have been avoided if she’d said yes to Kachiri?

_Don’t blame yourself. Please don’t. What happened out there? Why did you throw up?_

Could Dol tell her? No. Not the right question. _Should_ Dol tell her?

“Hey.” A quiet voice filled the air. It was female, coming from the cell across from Dol.

_Hold that thought, Bella._

Dol crawled to the front of the cage and looked across the way, there was a girl there, she had bronze hair and chocolate brown eyes, she reminded Dol a lot of Bella, her skin was pale as a vampires but the red of her cheeks gave away that she wasn’t. She was no older than eighteen.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Renesmee.”

“What are you?” Dol and the strange girl were speaking quietly, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves.

“I’m a hybrid. I’m half vampire and half human.”

“Why are you down here?”

“My father didn’t want word getting out that he’d screwed up so he had my mother locked down here to die giving birth to me.”

“Your father sounds like a great man.”

“I don’t get tortured like the rest of them so it could be worse.”

“Why do they get tortured?”

“Because vampires are horrible creatures. You’re a shapeshifter, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“Because if you were human you wouldn’t be looking right at me. It’s strange though, you don’t smell like the rest of them.” She tilted her head. “When they bring you food. Don’t eat it. Whatever you do, do not eat.”

“Why?”

“If a shifter eats SH it paralyzes their transformation abilities. You will be trapped in your human form.” She paused. “What animal do you change into?”

“I don’t change into an animal.”

“Are you a Spectral Shifter?” Her voice was full of shock, Spectral shifter? Dol knew little about herself. “If you are can you change?”

“I don’t know how to.”

The girl looked curious but didn’t pry, she whistled and a growl responded to her from the direction they had come in. “Are you listening?” Another growl filled the air, what animal was that? “Tap into the girl across from me.”

 _Hello?_ Dol jumped at the male voice that entered her mind.

 _How did he do that?_ She asked herself

_Shifters can speak telepathically. Normally it can’t be done across species. Especially when they keep us as weak as they do._

“She’s a Spectral Shifter. Quil, she doesn’t know how to shift.”

_Holy crap you’re Spectral? How the Hell do you not know how to shift?_

Dol didn’t know how to answer that question. She was confused by the situation at hand anyway.

 _Nevermind. Have you ever shifted before?_ Had she? Yes.

_Yes, one time._

_I’m going to assume you’ve been Spectral most of your life then. Okay, what were you feeling at that time?_

_I was…terrified…Rose told me I was dead…_

He was quiet for a moment. _Okay, I need you to focus on that memory. Use it as fuel, allow it to consume you._

Dol hesitated then did as told, focusing on that memory, tears streaking her face as she did. She had unconsciously been leaning against the bars.

“Holy crud.” Renesmee mumbled at the same moment Dol fell straight forward and out of the cage. She fell slightly through the floor and had to orient herself on the ground, standing slowly. “She did it. She got out.” Dol looked around, the color had drained from the world again but Dol didn’t care. She was free. Now she needed-

_You can’t free your friend. If you do it will get her killed. Now follow the tether for my mind. I want to see you._

Dol wanted to free Bella, so bad, but she knew she couldn’t. Quil was right, if she freed Bella it would most certainly get her killed. _Bella, I did it. I’m in my not solid form again._

_Leave me here._

_I know. I will come back soon._

_Find out what they are doing to Emmett. Avoid Edward and Kachiri._

_I know. I will be back soon. I promise._ Dol vowed to herself to keep that promise. She could not leave her behind. Dol took an unnecessary breath and focused on the mind of Quil, she could almost visualize the tether he spoke of, a greyish fog that lead her in the direction of the shifter she had been speaking to. She tried not to focus on her surroundings, she didn’t want to think about them. She would help them but not right now. She arrived outside the cage that Quil resided in he was a large wolf with darker shades in his fur, the lack of color was irritating her but she couldn’t worry about that right now. He wasn’t in quite as bad shape as the others except he was missing an eye. It looked like it had been clawed out by another animal, maybe it had. What did the vampires do with these shifters anyways? He wasn’t standing, he was laying on his side with his legs stretched out in front of him, his head was resting on his front paws. He had dried blood on him much like most of the shifters down here thought it was unclear where the blood had come from.

 _Hello._ Dol noted his mental voice sounded more relaxed now. He did mention cross species was harder for him.

 _Hello._ Dol was used to telepathy, this was easy for her, easier than speaking words in fact. She had been nothing more than part of Bella’s mind a few days ago. So much had happened and so many questions were to be asked. Now was not the time for curiosity, no matter how mad it may drive her.

_I am extremely curious how you had no knowledge on how to shift, would you mind showing me the briefest amount of memories to explain?_

Dol could do that, she ran through important segments of her memories since she woke up. Making the necessary memories short as possible as to save time.

_I know what happened to you. Now is not the time though. I can imagine you want to go check on your friend, beware the mind reader and Kachiri. Dol, do not let Kachiri catch you off guard. If you see her go into the ground or the wall, anything but letting her see you._

_Why is she so interested in me?_

_Kachiri has a very special power, she can control shapeshifters. That is why she wants you. A Spectral Shifter is the perfect spy, the only ones that can see you in this form are half breeds._

That explained a lot to Dol. She needed to find Emmett.

_By the way, you can keep the mind reader out of your head. Just imagine a wall around your thoughts and he shouldn’t know you’re there._

_“Thank you.”_ Dol whispered quietly, the wolf lifted his head and bowed it slightly.

 _If only she knew._ His thought was absentminded and sad. Dol didn’t stay to question it though, she took off in the direction they had come in. She needed to find Emmett.

Dol considered for a minute then took off in the direction of the dining hall, wait. _Please let this work._

Dol walked through the closest door to her, the room was empty. Good. Then she waited, hoping that she was right. It didn’t take long before the door flew open and Alice came in.

“Dol?” She closed the door behind herself. “Can you?...”

Dol knew what she was asking, she closed her eyes and concentrated on that memory, that fear. At the same second she was tackled into a tight hug, both of them falling to the floor. Alice giggled slightly and stood, holding her hand out for Dol who took it and got to her feet.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been waiting to actually see see you then when Rose told me I went to Emmett’s room…I’ve been watching your future ever since…Dol, what happened?”

“It was so confusing…Kachiri showed up and asked me to go with her…when I said no…where is Emmett?”

“Finish your story.”

“Alice.” Dol glared at the girl.

“The Romaz. He’s on trial for keeping a shifter that was not on SH.”

“Where?”

“Dol…”

“Where?”

“I’ll show you.” Alice mumbled with defeat.


	18. Eighteen

I lay in the pitch black; it was terrifying to say the least. There was no light coming from anywhere and Dol was gone. I needed to be brave for her. The problem with the darkness was it screwed with your brain. Seeing things wasn’t abnormal for me, after all I’d thought Dol was a hallucination for a very long time. It didn’t change the fact that seeing figures in the blackness scared me.

“Hey.” That voice, it was close. “Listen. Follow the sound of my voice. Watch out for the wall.” I did that, being extremely careful as I did so. She kept saying things along the lines of “you’re getting close, be careful.” I felt around me as I crawled on my knees, it was extremely disorienting. I finally felt metal and grabbed onto the bars, pulling myself up against it.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Renesmee.”

“That’s an interesting name.”

“That it is.”

“Why are you down here?”

“My father was an ass. He didn’t even name me.”

“Who did?”

“My mother. She named me then she died.” I was pretty sure I heard the sound of her sighing. “What is your name?”

“Call me Bella.”

“That’s an interesting name.”

“Who’s your father?”

“His name is Edward.” I tensed at his name.

“You know him?”

“Not exactly.” She didn’t respond for a second.

“Sh, someone is coming.” She said quietly. Barely loud enough for me to hear. I couldn’t hear anything. The silence unfortunately allowed my brain to focus on the darkness and I struggled to focus on the fact that there was nothing there. My mind kept conjuring up figures in the dark. I jumped when the gate in front of me flung open and when the icy hands grabbed hold of me I screamed.

“Isabella.” I went dead silent, the voice was Edward’s. It shook me to my core. I was terrified. “As much as I wish I were here to take you, you are going to join me at the Romaz.”

“Do you plan on freeing me, father?” Renesmee spoke.

“You know the answer to that.”

“Then answer me this. Brown hair, brown eyes, are you going to do to her what you did to my mom?”

“Renesmee.”

“Answer me.”

“Now is not the time.”

“Then the answer is yes. Bella, I am sorry. I wish I could do more.”

I didn’t get to ask her what she meant, I was terrified. _Dol, where are you?_

_Emmett is on trial. Alice is taking me there. Are you okay?_

_Edward is taking me to the Romaz. Dol, I’m so scared._ She didn’t respond to that immediately, Edward drug me away from Renesmee, towards where we came from, or so I assumed, I stumbled in the dark, Edward wasn’t much help.

_I will see you soon. Don’t draw attention to me though._

_You’ll be there? Be careful, Edward can read your mind._

_I’ll be careful._

The walk to the Romaz was quiet. His grip on my arm was tight enough that I knew it would bruise but I didn’t want to speak to him. Hell, I didn’t want to be near him. I didn’t like this, I didn’t like him, and I wanted Dol back at my side or even to have her sitting in my brain. Anywhere but somewhere that I couldn’t see or hear her.

 _I’m with you, Bells. I promise. I won’t let you get hurt._ She used the nickname Bells again, I held onto myself, focusing on acting like we weren’t talking.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

“Isabella, I’m sure you’ve heard horrible things about me.”

“My name is Bella.”

“I won’t lie. I’ve done terrible things.”

_He sent Renesmee’s mom to die while giving birth to her._

_Are you close?_ “What about Renesmee?”

“What did she tell you?”

 _I’m in your head. Sort of. It’s hard to explain._ “She told me enough.”

“She told me what she believes.”

“You’re her father.” Neither of us stopped walking while we talked.

“She’s safer down there.” He shook his head, a slight growl escaping.

_The torture victims._

“Safer down in the dungeon? It may have been dark down there but I saw what Aro would do to his torture victims.” He stopped suddenly, forcing me to stop with him. “Do you think I’m honestly that heartless?” He spun me so I was facing him, baring his teeth at me. “I may be a vampire, I may be a dick, and my God the things I want to do to you.” He grabbed my hair from behind and forced my head back, exposing my throat.

 _Control your heart._ That was me, my thought. I forced myself to stay as calm as possible, tears streaked my face. I was pretty sure some of my hair was being ripped from my scalp.

He leaned in and whispered in my ear. “You are my fucking singer. Every ounce of my being wants to drain every drop of blood from your body.” He pulled back, I was shaking now, I had heard the term Singer mentioned by Aro briefly. “Then you have that God forsaken brown hair and brown eyes I yearn for.” He pulled away. “I am a dick. I use humans. You are food to me. My daughter is stuck in that God forsaken dungeon to keep her alive. I know the horrible things she has seen, the horrible things she still sees. It haunts me every single day. She is Stefan’s Singer. If he catches a whiff of her again she won’t live to tell the tale. Unlike me he won’t restrain himself. Unlike me he has no reason to.”

“What reason do you have?” I asked as he dropped me.

“You are enough trouble to keep you in the dungeon.”

“What does that mean?”

He headed forward, solidly ending the question. I scrambled to my feet and followed him, it was stupid. Following him was as good as signing my death warrant. The problem was he had caught me. He had both Dol and I hooked at that one statement. The question following it was one to die for.

 _Why does he want us in the dungeon with his daughter? With Renesmee?_ Dol’s voice in my head was as curious as I was.

_Curiosity killed the cat, Dol._

_Didn’t satisfaction bring them back?_

_Do we get that luxury?_

_I suppose we’ll find out._

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

We stopped in front of a door, Edward took my arm again and pushed open the door, my heart sank at what was on the other side. This was not promising. We were in a large cavern which was lit by torches, it reminded me of Volterra, and it wasn’t overly extravagant like the Amoz. It was basic. Somehow that made it worse. At the back of the room were two thrones, each one housing a short, small male. One had darker hair than the other but in the torchlight it wasn’t exactly easy to see their features.

On his knees in front of them was Emmett, Alice was on the right side of the thrones a little behind Emmett, Laurent was behind her with as sobbing Rosalie restrained. Dol was on the left side of the thrones, between the two, watching the exchange. The look on her face said it all, things were not going well.

“About time you arrived, Edward. I was getting awfully bored interrogating him without our witnesses. Though it appears we are one witness short. Care to explain?” The lighter haired one spoke, he had a thick accent and spoke with little interest.

“She is a spectral shapeshifter. There isn’t a way to keep her confined.”

“If you idiots had given her the SH like you were supposed to this wouldn’t be an issue.” The other one sounded even less interested in the current situation.

“We all know this falls back on the accused. Harboring a shifter. Tsk, tsk. Emmett, I would have thought you’d learned your lesson.” The light haired one leaned forward and rested his head on his hand, looking at Emmett.

“He didn’t do anything!”

“If you don’t shut your mouth, Rosalie, I will shut it for you. You are only here because you are his mate.”

I heard a low growl come from Emmett.

“Bring forward the witness.” The dark haired one ordered Edward dragged me forward; I looked at Rosalie who was giving me a look of death. She blamed me. Edward pushed me on my knees next to Emmett, Dol stood from her spot and joined my side, and I tried not to pay attention to her, not wanting to draw focus.

“Is it correct you cannot read her mind, Edward?”

“That is correct, Stefan.” So the light haired one was named Stefan.

“Time to answer some simple questions, Isabella.”

“What questions might those be?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“Do not get smart with me.” He hissed, I tensed, where had that come from? I wasn’t stupid. I never talked back like that. “First question. Is it true that this shifter by the name of Dol has been with you since you arrived?”

“Yes but-“

“Is it true that during this time you told Emmett that she was present?”

 _Bella, wait. Don’t answer. He’s trapping you._ I went quiet.

“Answer the question.”

“No.”

“No you won’t answer the question or no you didn’t tell him about her?”

“You’re trapping me, I won’t answer the question.”

“Edward?”

“Emmett’s thoughts show no sign that she told him of the shapeshifter.”

Was he lying or was Emmett actually manipulating Edward? I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t going to ask.

“Of course your mind reading only goes so far. Alice, we are aware abilities work on Dol. Look into her future. Where is she going to be?”

Alice closed her eyes, Dol tensed up next to me then vanished, wait, and she didn’t vanish.

_Well this is familiar._

“She’s going to be inside Bella. Where we can’t touch her.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that when I arrived here, Dol was in my head, she was a voice in my head.”

 _It means for Kachiri to get her hands on me she will have to do what I want because she has no control over Bella, I am not my own person right now. She can’t control a shifter trapped in a human._ I relayed the message as Dol spoke in my head.

“I suppose we’ll find that out. Kachiri will be here in a moment.”

_How confident are you that this will work?_

_I panicked, I’ll be honest, and I didn’t even know I could do this._

_Can you get back out and bail?_

_I’ll try._ I could feel her focus as she tried to leave my mind. Too late.

I jumped when the door opened; I faintly heard the sound of claws scraping the floor.

“Where is she?” Kachiri’s voice filled the air behind me.

 _Stay put._ I knew that this plan would either work or it wouldn’t. If it didn’t I would probably lose Dol. If it did then God knows what would happen.

“It seems she has hid herself in Isabella’s mind, according to her you can’t control her if she’s trapped in a human.” Stefan sounded amused. “You’ve been challenged by this one. A very rare occurrence.”

I could feel Kachiri behind me. “The two of you are an extremely interesting pair, Isabella.”

_I can feel her on my mind, Bella._

_Resist her. I believe you can do it._

“Why would you say we’re interesting?”

“I’ve never met a human that was so…selfish.”

“Why would you say I was selfish?” I blinked and she was in front of me.

“You’re willing to risk Emmett’s life to keep your friend here away from me.”

“As I understand it there has been no evidence proving his guilt of a crime you claim he committed other than your word.”

“That is true, Kachiri.” Stefan still sounded amused, maybe this would work out after all?

 _I’m sorry._ Dol’s voice filled my head in a whisper as she tumbled out of my head, through Kachiri and onto the floor with a thud.

“It seems you were both wrong.”

“Dol-“ I went to push past Kachiri but Edward grabbed me, holding me in place.

Dol stood up and faced Kachiri, eyes down.

“Now tell us, Dol. Did Emmett know of your existence?”

I could see her fighting; it was visible in her expression. “Bella told him that I existed.”

“Edward?” Stefan asked.

“I can see it in her mind. Bella told him she existed.”

“Then it is settled. The charges filed against Emmett are legitimate.”

“No!” Rosalie screamed. “You can’t do this! They had no idea she was a shapeshifter!” I looked past Kachiri to see her fighting against Laurent. “From the second Emmett entered this room you have been leading the witnesses to his guilt!”

“One more outburst from you, Rosalie and we will kill you.”

“No! This is bullshit! Aro would have gotten the full story from their minds, if you do this you are going lower than the Volturi!”

Dead silence in the room, it was brief and terrifying. “Laurent, kill her.” Kachiri finally spoke, breaking the silence.

“No!” Emmett growled at the same second.


	19. Nineteen

Rosalie Hale, that was the name she had received, her mother had named her before she had died giving birth to her and she had taken the last name of her, Esme Hale. Carlisle Cullen, her father, had nearly killed her due to the loss of his mate. Rosalie would always be grateful he hadn’t though. Living a short life over dying at birth had settled in her mind as the better alternative and it had lead her to love. Love was always been something she longed for.

In the times her father had kept her hidden away she had spent much time reading and in that reading she had discovered the beauty, and ugliness, of love. Someone to hold you and tell you it was all alright, of course she didn’t know many people. Her father had kept her hidden away to be sure of that. He wasn’t what would be considered the optimal parent. He had been there though, not as often as the parents she had read about in her books but enough that she didn’t feel like her life had destroyed his. He bought her presents on her birthdays, they celebrated Christmas by going to the surface. Of course what Rosalie didn’t realize until her tenth birthday a year was not sixty days but three hundred sixty five. She finally asked her father why he had lied to her and he had explained that he wanted to celebrate her aging properly, even though she grew old so quickly he wanted to pretend she was living at a normal rate.

Of course she was content with this, they continued to celebrate until two normal years or twelve of her years, give or take, after she was born. During those years of her life her father had kept her on a balanced diet after realizing depending on the diet she lived off depended on her species. She hadn’t been comfortable as a vampire, in fact she had been deadly, losing control of her blood lust at the rate of an immortal child. The werewolf half of her was worse though. When the full moon rose she had torn from her room and nearly killed Carlisle. If it hadn’t been for Alice she would have killed him for sure. He had decided that night that she needed to be suppressed by SH as her mother had been and as the humans and shifters were. He didn’t like it but the Romaz and Amoz had warned him if she killed again she would receive proper punishment. He hadn’t ever told Rosalie of this but she had overheard his conversation with Edward on the matter.

That was the day Rosalie promised herself she would never do anything to put her father in danger. He had raised her from birth, despite the murder of her mother, he had kept her and raised her and cared for her. It would have been wrong for her not to return the favor. Of course that was before the rebellion, but that was something for later. Rosalie Hale was a compassionate girl and despite what everyone believed she had chosen to leave the safety of her room and begin manual labor, it had not been demanded. It had been a choice. She didn’t want her father under anymore strain than already there.

She met Emmett the first time, briefly, while carrying blood bags to the dungeon. She had never stepped foot down there but she knew the sight wasn’t pretty. She had been walking down the hall, lost in her head, thinking about the new book she had to read when she completely missed the fact that he was turning the corner. The first encounter wasn’t a good one. It involved him hissing at her and telling her she was a “stupid human not paying attention to where the Hell she was going.” He hadn’t paused for a second glance then but she had, as he pushed past her, deliberately stepping on one of the blood bags she dropped making it pop and causing blood to go everywhere, she had watched him go. Observing every feature of his back as he went.

She hated herself for it, she didn’t want to be one of those dingy blondes that “fell” for the first man she met. She wasn’t that kind of person, the books she read were just that, books. Love at first sight was garbage. Of course in the back of her mind she might have been undressing him with her mind, what could she say? She may have been two years old by normal standards and around twelve by physical standards but her mind was much more advanced. She had read every book she could get her hands on, romance, educational, political, and more. Of course having read college level books didn’t make her emotionally more mature but she could dream, couldn’t she?

That first encounter had triggered something baser in her instincts though. She constantly searched for him, her eyes scanning every crowd and every vampire. She seeked the one she had interest in, the one that haunted her dreams. The words he spoke to her left her with doubt though. She finally asked her father for a laptop, she wanted to learn more and books were limited. She wanted to learn how to attract the attention of a man. The issue was he wanted to know why.

“I can’t just give you a laptop, Rosalie. I can give you all the books you want but laptops are a bit sketchier. I need to know why.”

Rosalie pondered that for a bit, lying was useless, at this point she was completely off the human blood and living human, she couldn’t lie without catching his attention. It had been about two of her years since the first encounter and she was physically fourteen. Maybe he’d be more understanding now that she was older, she let out a breath and told him the truth. “I want to know how to attract a man’s attention.”

Carlisle had stared at her, in his small office Rosalie had never felt as trapped as she did now. She had forgotten that her father had wanted to kill her when she was born, now that that thought had slipped into her mind she was worried, what was the probability that he wouldn’t get mad and decide to kill her now?

“Who?” He finally spoke after a bit of silence.

Not the question she had expected, she answered as honestly as she could though. “I haven’t met him, I think I’ve heard him referred to as Emmett though.”

Carlisle didn’t say anything immediately, Rosalie wasn’t sure whether it was due to a bad or good thing. She had absolutely no idea. She didn’t know her father overly well which she had been fine with, however, it also left her with worry on his reaction.

“I suppose Alice was right yet again. I should really never doubt her.” He shut his eyes for a moment and leaned against his desk before opening them and looking at her again.

“Rosalie Hale. My amazing daughter, brave and strong, I had hoped I would never say this but it seems it is time for you to be put up for sale.

Rosalie’s mouth had opened, actually opened, from the shock that went through her. She stared at the man that had raised her with pure shock, he had just told her he was going to sell her. He was going to sell her like any of the humans in this place.

“I am going to promise you though, Rosalie. If things don’t go as planned I will take you back in a heartbeat. Nothing will stop me from keeping you safe.” At the time he’d meant it, though thinking back he never could have envisioned the things the others were capable of. If he had he would have kept her and never let her fall in love with Emmett. Too late for that now.

She had gone to pack her things in silence as her father had headed out to put her on the market, she hadn’t let it pass her mind that Alice’s name had been mentioned, he would probably check with her every two seconds to be sure things stayed on track. Rosalie did not know this until she’d almost died the first time. Well second time if you counted when Carlisle had considered killing her at birth.

Things progressed as planned, Rosalie was put up for auction and Emmett, having finally recovered from the loss of his “human” or Leah as she had learned at a later date, a story that wasn’t hers to share. He bought her immediately, well half of her, he had intended on her as a helper and Blood Bag.

Rosalie had other plans though. Much much better plans in her mind. She had spent a lot of time watching him from the sidelines but now she had the option to see him up close. His room had been dark that night, maybe one or two days after he’d bought her, not that she minded the dark, her werewolf eyesight gave her an edge.

When she stepped in the room he was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. “Rosalie, take note that we need to go aboveground to get some more controllers.” He looked annoyed by what she could see of his expression, even if she could see well in the dark it wasn’t as if it was clear as day. There were limits though.

Alice had been kind enough to take her shopping that day to get her some better clothing. She had clearly known the intentions before she even asked but had made her say it anyway. She wanted to catch Emmett’s eyes. He had barely looked at her since she had walked through his door two days ago and it was getting to her now. He hadn’t tried to feed on her, she’d been more of a visual thing. Not tonight though.

She wasn’t dressed to seduce him, she knew that was stupid, she was dressed to draw focus though. She was in a blood red dress that, come to think of it, had probably been a surefire warning of the mistake she had made.

Alice had pinned her hair to the top of her head in a bun and made sure that there was as little makeup as possible, according to Alice they could see every particle of the makeup and it made people look stupid unless done faintly and carefully. She hadn’t cared, she had been thinking of how to approach tonight. This needed to work or she’d go insane.

She cleared her throat at the edge of the bed and when she blinked Emmett was sitting, his eyes were searching her now, he was looking. Honestly, Alice couldn’t have seen what would happen. He probably wouldn’t have seen it either. Of course Emmett had been on a one track mind the second he saw her, she knew this. He didn’t love her, yet. She crawled into his lap all the same, she didn’t what his purposes were at that moment. She did what she’d wanted since the first time she laid eyes on him.

She kissed him. She didn’t yet know the dangers of that first kiss though. She didn’t know that she had trapped herself but if she could take it back she wouldn’t. This decision had never been regrettable.

It wasn’t long before he was lying on his back with Rosalie on top of him, her legs on either side of his waist. Things had been fine here, Emmett had told her this multiple times, he had no intention of passing this point with her, yet. It didn’t really matter though and she would never know for certain. His kisses moved from her lips up to her neck and she hadn’t fought it. They hadn’t known the risk.

His teeth scraped skin and Hell broke loose, at least in her mind it did. Suddenly his grip on her tightened and she was pinned down to the bed. That one drop of her blood had sent him into a frenzy and he bit down. She screamed.

Her mind reeled, things had been fine and now this. She fought against him because she knew, she knew from personal experience, he was not in his right mind. He had lost out to the Blood Lust. Shouldn’t the SH have solved that issue though? When she had devoured the blood of humans as a young child she hadn’t stopped because she didn’t want to. She had wanted more and more, she didn’t see the reason to stop. Her mind hadn’t clicked that there were reasons to stop, reasons not to kill. Edward had been in her mind and told them that it was as though she was a vampire lost to blood lust. Even the SH didn’t stop her.

She never stopped screaming but there was a point Emmett covered her mouth with his hand. She prayed to whatever God or Goddess or whatever out there that Alice had been watching their future, that help was coming. Her prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears as she faded further and further. Her struggling becoming weaker and weaker. She didn’t hear the sound of the door opening but did feel as Emmett was yanked away from her neck.

Come to look back on that, it was obvious that she should have been dead. Maybe that was why he luck had fallen downhill from there.

Life flashing before your eyes. It was a funny thing, it had happened then and Rosalie knew why it was happening now. She knew from the second she had seen her childhood. What would she see next though? What memories would her brain choose next.

Then she felt it, the touch of something from outside…what was that? Then a pain…first faint then it grew and grew…she didn’t know what it was but her past vanished and she opened her mouth to scream.


	20. Twenty

“Don’t!” The other Romaz hissed a second too late as the room filled with the sound of Rosalie’s neck snapping. There was a second of silence then chaos erupted, the sound of Dol and I screaming filled the air along with Emmett’s angry roar.

I didn’t look to see Laurent drop her body to the floor, I couldn’t. _No no no no. No. She can’t. She didn’t. No no no…_

“Kachiri! You are to leave!” Stefan’s angry voice barely breached the wall of anguish that had filled me. _No no. No. No…_ “This is not your court! Edward! Laurent! Restrain, Emmett!” The scene in front of me moved in hyper speed, I saw nothing but everything, Emmett being forced to the floor by Laurent and Edward, Kachiri leaving. “Leave the shifter, get out of here!” Stefan was by my side.

“You psycho! You bitch! Let me go!” I could see Emmett struggling against them; Dol seemed to break out of the mind control and was in front of me, grief filling her expression.

“You need to take her out of here, Alice. Dol, I won’t tell you what to do, I am not sure what lines she crossed to get you here, and there will be a proper investigation at a later date. We will not stoop as low as the Volturi scum.”

“She needs to be dealt with.” Alice’s voice was quiet next to me. “I don’t care who she is, we are ranked to avoid this.”

“We’ll investigate later.” I snapped out of my daze, I pushed past them and crawled across the floor.

 _No. No._ I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my lap as I moved into a criss cross position. _My first friend. Oh, God. Rosalie. Rosalie…_

I looked up when Emmett sat in front of me, the grief and anger in his expression sent chills down my spine. I hesitantly passed Rosalie to him; she was limp in our arms. If there was speaking in the room it was beyond reaching my ears at this point. I was terrified; Emmett had held my life in his hand before. I knew he’d have done anything to keep her alive. Now that she was dead…what would that mean for me? I knew that this entire situation had been brought on by Dol and I. Would the blame fall to me?

I barely saw her approach, I didn’t need to. I felt her. Dol was with us now. She wasn’t solid though, she moved so that she was sitting inside my legs, her body trembling. I didn’t need to be in the same mind with her to know she was worried about the same thing.

 _“I can feel her soul.”_ Dol touched Rosalie and the area around the contact seemed to glow, I had to blink a few times to make sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, then it happened, Dol seemed to…mold into Rose…there was no other word to describe what I was seeing. Her body seemed to slide into Rose’s, each body part lining up perfectly. She was stunned, there was a scream that filled the air and I had to look where it came from, Alice was on her knees with her hands on her head, Edward joined her side for a brief second before he looked at us, shock on his expression.

I turned my head at the same time as Rosalie’s eyes opened; she choked and struggled, tears covering her face as her body convulsed.

_Dol, what the Hell is happening?_

_I just figured out why your body is so tolerant to damage. She wasn’t gone so I joined her body like you join you. Someone needs to get the doctor. Now._

I saw out of the corner of my eye as Edward disappeared, I jumped as Emmett hissed.

“What the fuck is happening? Answer me or I will snap your neck, Bella.” I pushed myself up and backed away when I saw the look on his face as he tried to calm Rosalie without hurting her any more than she already was.

“I…I don’t really know…um…Dol…she said she could feel Rosalie’s soul then she joined up with her…I think…I think her presence is keeping Rosalie from dying…” While that prospect interested me it also scared me.

If Dol could keep Rosalie alive with a snapped neck just how strong was she?

 _Not me, we. We are linked, Bella. We are bound together and should you die I don’t think I’d live._ Another chill ran down my spine, it was clear we were linked, she had manifested herself in me, not anyone else and I had the feeling she would not live if I died. Why were we so close? What was this connection? Why was she here? That question felt as old as their relationship. Why was she there?

I jumped when the doctor vampire, Carlisle was his name if I remembered correctly, arrived next to us. The shock in his expression was unnerving.

“She can’t be alive. That isn’t possible.”

“Carlisle, do something. Now.” Emmett’s voice was a growl.

The look on his face was shocked but more than that…it was fear. He was scared. It was a bit ironic for him to be afraid by the fact that she was alive considering their necks couldn’t snap. He swallowed. “Okay. First I need those with low self-control to clear the room, now. I am going to have to cut her open and Isabella I need a huge favor. She is going to need blood.” Rosalie went quiet while he was talking, I would’ve worried if Dol hadn’t assured me that she’d just passed out from the pain.

My stomach churned, under normal circumstances I wouldn’t mind giving up my blood, if I was correct on what he meant though I was pretty sure he was talking about a blood transfusion.

I grimaced as Edward knelt in front of us with a bag in hand.

“He needs to leave if you want to do this, Carlisle.” Alice’s voice filled the air next to us and Edward growled.

“I’ll be fine, Alice.”

“Say that again.” Clearly whatever he saw in her mind was enough to change his mind because he growled and got up. “I’m not stupid; Edward and I don’t need intelligence to see exactly what your plan was.”

An excuse, he had intended on draining me then blaming it on the fact that he couldn’t control himself with his Singer’s blood exposed. It was a pretty clever approach and if it hadn’t meant I’d have died I would’ve asked him how long it took to come up with it.

“I’m leaving.” He growled and then was gone. Alice moved closer to Rosalie and grabbed the bag he’d brought.

“Do you have any morphine?” Carlisle shook his head before Alice had finished asking the question.

“I don’t think it’s wise, even if she is alive right now I don’t know how much we should do to her body in that aspect. Her heart is racing and the morphine might do more harm than good.

“She’s going to feel it?” Emmett growled, he was on edge and I was still terrified of him.

“Make a choice now. We risk her dying from the morphine or I allow my blood to heal her and she goes through Hell and has a much more guaranteed chance of living.”

Alice touched my arm and I grimaced but held it out so that she could put the needle in place, I didn’t watch, I still hated needles and didn’t want to think about it.

“Save her.” I watched as Alice handed Carlisle a small silver knife, it was hard to watch the next part. Carlisle forced Emmett to lay her on the floor and her neck rolled slightly, the movement woke her and she started screaming, it didn’t even seem like this was possible. She shouldn’t be alive. This was so wrong. So very very wrong. This was unnatural and that was a thought coming from a vampire slave who had thought she was insane.

_Dol…this isn’t right…it’s not…_

“Dol, don’t do it. I am begging you.” Clearly Alice was watching our futures closely. This meant I knew the outcome of our conversation now. Could I do it though?

_I know. I am watching through your eyes._

Rosalie screamed and if it wasn’t for the grip Alice had on my arm currently I would’ve covered both of my ears but as it wasn’t possible I covered one. I glanced up and cringed, regretting making the decision. He’d cut into Rosalie’s neck and she was bleeding profusely, I hardly noticed when Alice stuck the needle in my arm.

When Rosalie had told me Carlisle had put his blood in my wounds it hadn’t exactly occurred to me she meant blood blood. Most vampires I had seen had silvery liquid known as venom rather than blood but when Carlisle bit into his own wrist he bled _real_ blood. Or at least that was the color; it was bright red and left me stunned. He was definitely a vampire so why did he bleed red?

I could sense the discomfort with Emmett; clearly he was bothered by the scent of her blood.

_Bella she hates me for this. She wants me to know that she will never forgive me for this._

_You can stop._ The thought was sad but honest. _You can let her die, there is still time because Dol, this is wrong. So very wrong._

_I can feel her healing. It’s too late._

I was drained of energy, this was wrong. Rosalie was dead; Dol had taken the step forward and brought her back to life. Her soul may have been there but Rosalie’s body was dead. She had allowed Rosalie to come back from the dead. This was wrong.

_I need to get away the second she heals._

_You need to go now._ I didn’t know how I knew but I could almost _feel_ Kachiri approaching.

_But…_

_She’s coming._

I could feel the internal struggle, we were both selfish at heart but this was murder in a way. Could we put her life on the line because Dol was scared of being controlled? I mean God I was scared for her. I felt the decision get made as the guilt hit both of our shoulders like a ton of bricks. She bolted her form unattached itself from Rosalie and she flew straight up. I didn’t question where she went I watched as Rosalie stopped writhing in pain and passed out again.

“What the-“

“Dol left her.” I could feel Alice’s glare.

“Her heart is still beating, barely.”

Emmett looked at her; the look in his eyes was heartbreaking. I knew what I had to do. The first injury had been instantly fatal but now she was at least slightly alive. I snatched the scalpel from Alice and, before I could think about the terrible decision I was making, I cut it across my wrist, pressing the bleeding wound to Rosalie’s mouth. I’d seen the reaction she had to this before; I just hoped she was alive enough for it to work.

At first it didn’t work, at first my blood filled her mouth uselessly. _I caused this_ ; I was already low on blood from the transfusion. _I caused this_ , she didn’t swallow. _I caused this_. She wasn’t breathing. _I can fix this._ Finally, after what seemed like a millennium, she swallowed the first mouth-full of blood.

More blood poured from my body and she swallowed another. I’d been here before, the only difference was, and I didn’t know if they planned on letting me live.

Rosalie squirmed, if it hadn’t been for the broken neck she’d have probably lifted her head to bite down. As it was, she couldn’t, and I was thankful. I barely felt it when Alice removed the needle from my other arm. I did notice when her skin began to change, to harden, her neck began…I didn’t know how to describe it, ever so slowly her head moved to its proper position and the broken bones began healing. I could feel the blood loss affecting me as I lay down next to her, never once moving my arm from her mouth, denying her the chance to live.

I thought they were going to let her kill me, I deserved that, and I honestly did. However they didn’t or at least Alice didn’t. I assumed she’d been using her trick to see how long of a wait was too long because she grabbed my arm and pulled it from Rose. Rose didn’t protest though.

 _Sleepy._ The thought hummed through my head as I fell into a peaceful, blissful, sleep.


	21. Twenty-One

I slowly came to consciousness, where was I? My brain was still mostly asleep. I couldn’t get it to tell my eyes to open. Okay, think. Limb count, ten fingers, ten toes, we’re good.

Now sound, what did I hear? This had been so much easier with Dol’s instructions last time I’d woken disoriented like this. _Dol_.

_I’m here. You’re okay?_

_Where are you?_ I finally managed to open my eyes and look around; I was in a room about twice the size of Emmett’s, give or take. There were clothes _everywhere_ and noticing that was what made me realize I was stark naked, I mean I was under a very comfortable blanket but I could tell I had no clothes on.

_I’m on the surface, Kachiri is looking for me._

Of course she was. That wasn’t the current issue. Whose room was this and why was I naked?

 _Focus on your surroundings, Bella. Close your eyes and count to three._ I closed my eyes and did as she said. _Now open them and look again._

I did as she said; only this time I observed the room around me with more care. The room was covered in clothes, as observed before, the walls had clothes, there were clothes hanging on metal rods in the middle of the room, at the foot of her bed there was an outfit laying there. Then I noticed something, to my right, which I noted had the door, there was a tube coming out from under my blanket and hooked up to a bag of blood.

I was hooked up to a bag of blood. I pulled my arm out from under my blanket and sure enough, there was the needle in my arm that was now thoroughly bandaged from where I’d cut it open.

_Rosalie._

_I don’t know. I have to go, Bella. I will talk to you soon._

I didn’t ask, my mind was elsewhere. Whose room was this? I slowly sat up, careful not to move too quickly. I needed to focus on why I was here. I remembered Dol leaving Rose, then…I’d cut my wrist and allowed Rosalie to feed on me…had it worked though? Was Rosalie okay?

I didn’t feel like I had broken bones, and then again why would I? I hadn’t been injured while I was conscious. Of course I knew why I had wondered that, Emmett. He had been so angry. If I was alive it had to mean Rose had lived, right?

I can’t say I was surprised when the door opened and Alice bounced in.

“Morning, Sunshine! You look well!” She was at my side in a second and was pulling the needle from my arm before I was aware of what she was doing.

“Where’s Rose?” The question escaped before I had realized I asked it.

“With Emmett. The two of you saved her life. Of course that doesn’t mean Kachiri isn’t hunting Dol down like she’s a fugitive or you aren’t still considered a run risk but you saved Rosalie’s life.” Then I was being hugged, it was slightly awkward considering my lack of clothing but that wasn’t exactly where my mind went.

_Rosalie is alive. We saved her life._

_We brought her back from the dead._ Dol’s voice shared the fear I had felt upon realization yesterday.

_What does that mean for us?_

_I don’t know._

_We need to talk, Dol._

_I know._

“You need to get dressed so I can take you to talk to Rose. She’s…”

“Pissed?” I supplied as I carefully moved out from under the covers, I normally would’ve been conscious about my lack of clothing but honestly I could care less.

“To say the least.” She mumbled as she grabbed the clothes from the bottom of the bed and handed them to me.

“How about Emmett?” I asked as I got dressed, it when the fabric of the shirt she’d given me pushed against the bandage on my wrist but the pain wasn’t unbearable.

“He’s…thankful…he wanted to kill you because he thinks it was your fault.”

“It was my fault.”

“It was Kachiri who did it, not you. Her unhealthy obsession caused this.”

I slowly got out of bed, I didn’t want to argue with her about this, and I finished getting dressed without speaking another word.

“Where is she?” Alice led me out of the room and down what felt like a million corridors, we didn’t talk. After a bit I began recognizing the path and I realized where we were going. “Emmett’s room?”

“Nearly dying seemed to patch their relationship.” I could hear the giggle in her voice.

After a brief second I remembered his comment from when I’d gotten here about his considering of taking me as a Companion and felt guilty, why did I feel guilty? Those had been his words, not mine.

_You feel as though she should know, it has been gnawing at the side of my brain for a while._

We arrived outside his room, Alice knocked loudly but didn’t wait for an answer before pushing open the door and strolling in. I heard an angry growl from the other side and a squeak. I hesitated outside before deciding screw it and following her in. Rosalie and Emmett were in the bed, as was expected.

Emmett was lying on his back and Rosalie was hiding under the sheets next to him now, it was obvious she hadn’t been there when they’d arrived though.

I had to look away when Emmett looked at me, the hostility and anger was still there. He hadn’t forgiven me. I hadn’t expected him to.

“There is a reason people knock.” Rosalie mumbled from under the blanket.

“Not like I couldn’t see that you had no intentions of opening the door.”

“That’s not the point.” She groaned and sat up, pulling the blanket off her head. The second she saw me her entire demeanor changed.

“Bella.” I didn’t know how to feel about the way she said that, so I decided not to say anything. I just looked at her, I felt drained, and there was so much happening. “I want to talk to you both.”

“She’s aboveground.” I mumbled quietly, looking at the ground.

“I’m going to get dressed. The two of you get out.” I left without another word.

.-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-.

Dol was scared and happy and sad and just that, scared. She had brought Rosalie back to life. She had brought Rosalie back to life. She flew through the ceiling and through floors of many different floors, some rooms empty, some with vampires feeding on humans. She didn’t pay attention though. No. She had brought a dead girl back to life, not completely; she was too selfish for that. She had known Kachiri was coming and chosen to bolt.

Dol had questioned so many things but the biggest question now was _how?_ How the Hell had she ended up there, Kachiri’s hold on her mind had been the most terrifying thing in the world but it had taught her something extremely valuable. Something she would keep to herself for a very long time. She now knew _why_ she was there. It had all been cleared to her when Kachiri had used her control to force her mind to real back to the very beginning.

She couldn’t tell anyone. Not yet. It was dangerous for her to know what she knew now. She hated herself because Kachiri knew. She knew what her biggest weaknesses were, she knew what her purpose was, and she knew what she was capable of.

 _“Kill her.”_ The words had rang through her ears but Dol was completely helpless, the cracking of the bones…then freedom…she knew what she could do, the real question was could she do it? She had moved vacantly, lost in her own head. A choice, save Rose or not, if she did she would probably be looked for.

When she got to Rose’s side she had seen her soul, it was the only color in the world she had seen in this form. She had _known_ it was her soul. It had been obvious. Could she do it? Let them bring her back?

She had to. Rose was their friend. More than that though, the look Emmett had given Bella was dangerous. She had to protect Bella.

Rosalie’s mind was all over the place but the anger was obvious. She would never forgive Dol for bringing her back.

Then she’d bolted. She had somehow ended up in the city and wandered aimlessly through it, watching the world through Bella’s eyes. Of course she was that stupid, of course she’d risk her life to finish saving Rosalie. Dol knew though that if she hadn’t Emmett would have killed her.

Then she saw him again. The blonde haired boy from last time, the same one she’d told Bella she thought she was in love with. What she’d told Bella hadn’t been entirely true. She hadn’t been in love. She’d been drawn to him though. She’d been unable to look away.

He looked up as she approached him, was he a shifter? Could he see her? He was sitting on a bench at the side of the road; he had been staring at the sky but was now looking at where Dol was sitting.

“I can feel you…why can’t I see you?”

So he didn’t see her. Why could he sense her? The vampires hadn’t been able to, why could he?

Dol had hesitated then allowed herself to shift into her human form. The effect was instantaneous. Her entire world changed her entire perspective until there was only one thing. The boy in front of her.

Dol would never be able to describe the feeling, it was strong, it was terrifying, and it was... it was _him_. She knew from that point, she was his.

He stepped forward, searching her face with his eyes. She blinked once then wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close, he responded to the hug, she would be what he needed, nothing more and nothing less. What he needed right now was a protector.

 

Dol basically hadn’t left his side for three days; she had had time to evaluate the current situation though. She had called Alice and gotten updated on Bella’s situation, she was recovering, which was good. Rosalie wanted to speak to the both of them once Bella woke again.

Dol had no problem with this; she needed to talk to Bella and Rosalie about what had happened. She also needed to tell Bella about Mike.

She had dropped into the dungeon for two minutes after she’d talked to Mike the first time to ask Quil what the Hell had happened. He had told her it was called imprinting. Apparently shifters imprint on people, they become the guardian of said person, lover, and friend, whatever they need. She hadn’t liked the way he’d explained it and stormed off.

Now she’d accepted it though. Dol had become his guardian, just as she felt it absolutely necessary to keep Bella alive. She felt it absolutely necessary to keep Mike safe, happy, and alive. She was fighting it; she didn’t care what her genetics told her. She didn’t like losing her free will. She’d dealt with that already. Of course it didn’t matter what she thought about that, she had stayed close. She’d kept her eye on him nonstop. Bella finally woke up.

 

Dol and Mike were sitting in Emily’s Diner. Emily had agreed to make Dol special food that wasn’t laced with SH so she would remain capable of shifting. The second Bella and the others stepped in the diner Dol had shifted into her spectral form long enough to go through the tables rather than waiting for Mike to get out of his seat.

She shifted and jumped into Bella’s arm, hugging her tightly. “I swear to God, Bella if you ever do something so absolutely stupid I will kill you myself.” She pulled away and grabbed her shoulders. “Swear to me you will never do that again. Swear to me.”

“I can’t do that, Dol.” Bella spoke quietly, Dol had known that was her answer because they shared the same outlook, Dol wouldn’t have sworn that either.

“Dol.” She dropped her arms and looked at Rosalie. The hatred and anger in her expression was clear.

 _Move out from between us, Bella._ Bella didn’t ask, the answer was clear. The second Bella moved Rosalie stepped forward and punched Dol in the stomach. She dropped to her knees immediately and let out a sound of pain. No one moved immediately, that was until Rose began kicking Dol.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!” Kick. “WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT?!” Kick. “I WAS DEAD!” Kick. “I WAS AT PEACE!” Kick. “IT HURT SO FUCKING MUCH!” Dol was crying on the ground, she knew she deserved this; it didn’t change how much it hurt. “YOU PSYCHOTIC BITCH!” Someone finally must have grabbed her because the kicking stopped, Rosalie let out a cry of anger. “LET ME GO, ALICE!”

“You’ll kill her.” Alice’s voice sounded like she was trying to reason with her.

“GOOD! DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW HORRIBLE THAT WAS! I CAN NEVER FORGET THAT!”

Bella and Mike were both at Dol’s side now, she could feel them though she couldn’t see past the tears filling her vision, and sharp stabbing pains kept shooting through her body from her ribs to the rest of her.

“Rose, don’t you dare kill her.”

“Are you serious? Isabella Swan. You know what she did was wrong, horribly wrong. I should not be alive. The only reason you fed me your blood was to keep Emmett from killing you. You are both selfish bitches.” She spat the sentence, Dol barely was able to focus on her words though, the stabbing pain. Her instincts told her that if she shifted the pain would vanish.

She didn’t deserve that though. She had gone way too far.

“Dol.” She had to do it. She had to stay alive, she had to protect him. She closed her eyes and shifted, falling back into her spectral form. The pain vanished; _I guess pain was for those with a solid form_. She blinked and slowly moved to her feet, she looked at Rosalie who was staring at her with pure fury, her arms restrained by Alice, Emmett was glaring at Alice but made no move to take Rosalie from her.

“Rosalie, I am sincerely sorry. The guilt I feel has been more than I can ever let go of. I know you will doubt that, I accept that, but I have to stay alive at any cost. I have to keep Bella and Mike alive. I’m sorry but I can’t sacrifice myself to get rid of the guilt. I don’t regret bringing you back no matter how much it hurt. You are alive. Bella and I are selfish; we know this, that doesn’t matter though because you are alive.”

Dol turned and walked to the table, sitting back down.

“We need to talk; unfortunately you have put me in a position that I will need a relay.”

“Dol…” Dol looked at Bella. “Mike? You need to keep Mike alive?”

“It’s…complicated…”

Bella didn’t ask her, not yet; instead she walked to the table, followed by Mike and the rest of them, all of them settling down. Rosalie never stopped throwing death glares in Dol and Bella’s directions but she also didn’t try to attack Bella. Things were at least slightly okay.


	22. Twenty-Two

I was mad at Rose for going after Dol but I hadn’t moved to stop her. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She had every reason in the world to go after her, every reason. However I hadn’t expected to have to grab Mike to keep him from going after Rosalie, I honestly had never expected that to happen. It had taken me off guard but I trusted Alice to keep her alive.

We were sitting at the table now, Dol was sitting practically in the wall, Mike had grudgingly let Bella sit next to her and squeezed in next to her, the other three squeezed in across from them. It was a good thing these chairs were long otherwise it would’ve been awkward, well the close range was awkward but still.

I looked over at Dol who pulled herself out of the wall and closed her eyes, it was obvious when she took her solid form because her entire demeanor changed from slightly calm to in a lot of pain, her breathing sped up slightly and she grabbed my hand that was close to her, even though she was in pain she grabbed my hand rather than my arm which was still bandaged and sore. She was squeezing hard enough to cut off the circulation but if it was helping her with the pain she was in she wouldn’t object.

“Here’s the deal.” She groaned out. “Because of what you went through…” She let out a breath. “I will deal with the pain from the damage you dealt out of vengeance because it’s only fair.” She closed her eyes and leaned back, wincing. Her breathing was sped up but other than that she didn’t show how much pain she was in.

“Dol.” I finally mumbled, Rosalie leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly annoyed.

“Yes, Bella?” She breathed out, trembling.

“First off, after seeing what Rosalie went through…” I swallowed; I was on the edge of tears at this point. “I never want you to do that to me…if…” She swallowed. “If I am ever dead…don’t save me…please…” I could see a slight change in how Rosalie was sitting, I couldn’t tell if it was positive or negative though.

“I have thought about that a lot since I did that to Rose…I don’t know if I could stop myself from saving you or Mike though…”

“Dol.” Rose’s voice was hostile again. “Let me explain exactly what happened when you did that. I was dead, my life was flashing before my eyes because that is what happens when you die, your life flashes across your mind, letting relive everything and focusing on the good memories. I was _dead._ I was _not_ supposed to come back. It would’ve been one thing if Bella had saved me solely with her blood but you forced my body to become habitable, you forced my body to hold my soul in place. I should be _dead._ ” She leaned forward, looking between us. “Honestly, Dol. You scare the ever-living Hell out of me and everyone.”

“Don’t think I don’t know that, Rose.” I flinched when Dol began digging her nails into my hand at the same time she leaned forward so she was facing Rose. “I scare myself, I know Bella is scared whether she says it or not. There are bigger problems at hand though.”

“What problems are those?” Rosalie narrowed her eyes.

“There’s another rebellion in the works.” Dol said quietly, looking at each of the people at the table except me.

Dead silence, not a word.

Rebellion.

Freedom.

That was what the rebellion meant, they were going after freedom.

 _Freedom._ That word seemed so foreign now.

“And…” She swallowed. “I know why I’m here, I know what you meant Alice and Kachiri knows my weaknesses and my strengths. She used her control over me to force me to remember.

“That’s why she’s been hunting you down?” Rosalie finally asked.

“That and I am sure she’s mad because of the incident with the Romaz.”

“Another rebellion?” Alice was surprised? That’s never a good sign.

“Yes.” Mike finally spoke; I’d forgotten he was here but now…

“What is going on with you two?” Dol hesitated. “You two aren’t together, right?”

“God no.” Her reaction was instant but I could sense the honesty in our bond.

“No, I’m in an ongoing relationship with Jessica.” I could hear the grin in his voice. “Apparently she did something called imprinting.” He looked past me at her.

“The Hell is imprinting?”

“It’s something shifters do.” Rose spoke up. “Basically their soul binds itself to one person or creature, they become whatever that person needs or wants, if they want a lover they become a lover, if they want romance the shifter falls in love, if they need a guardian then the shifter becomes the guardian. They become a slave to their own genetics though…I have to say, Dol. I wouldn’t have expected you to be imprinted on him. You seem very…you.”

“What can I say? I’m a shifter with an attitude.”

“She’s fighting it.” Alice shook her head and started laughing. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“Another rebellion.” Emmett’s voice was quiet, everyone’s attention moved to him though, Rosalie turned in her seat so that she was facing him directly. She grabbed his face and made him look at her.

“Emmett, I am begging you.”

He looked at her; I could see the conflict in his face. It was obvious that this revelation had him scared for more than one reason.

“Please, Emmett.” She put her hands over his shoulder and rested them on the back of his neck, pulling his face down so that they were inches from each other. I felt like I was interfering with an intimate moment but I knew what she was asking him, this wasn’t intimate, this was something more. Emmett had revealed the last one and Rosalie was scared.

“Rose…if this happens…if things go wrong…”

“They won’t go wrong if you don’t tell.” She pulled him close enough that she could kiss him and she did. “God, Emmett. I am begging you. I know what you’re thinking and you can’t do that. I love you to death, please don’t do it. We can leave this city forever and we can be happy. No fear of another vampire killing me, we could be together.”

Something bounced back in my mind, something Dol had briefly mentioned but I had been a bit too distracted to notice.

I turned to look at the blue haired nightmare that was probably my only true friend. _Dol._ She smiled sadly as she turned to me. We shared so much I’m sure she knew what was coming.

 _Yes, Bella?_ She knew, I could hear the reluctance in her mind, the thing was she wouldn’t have mentioned it if she didn’t at least partially want me to know.

 _You said and I quote, “I know why I’m here”. What exactly does that mean? Why you’re here in the diner or why you’re_ here _? I don’t want you avoiding this, I want the truth._

 _Bella…_ She swallowed. “Excuse us for a minute, please.” Rosalie was still talking to Emmett but it was long gone from my focus, what she was telling me was clearly important or she would’ve left the conversation in our head.

Mike got up and I pushed out of the seat, I hadn’t noticed but at some recent point she had freed my hand and it was bleeding very weakly, I didn’t care, it would be fine. Dol seemed to decide screw it because rather than dealing with the pain it would’ve been for her to move she shifted into her spectral form.

 _“Tell Mike to stay.”_ Dol mumbled on her breath before darting through the wall so that she was outside.

“I’ll go see if Emily needs help with anything.” Mike mumbled, looking extremely awkward now.

It was sunrise now; the stars were fading away as the glow of the sun started to show itself on the east side of town. That’s where we headed, we walked in silence for a short while, heading towards the same hill I had sat on with Emmett and her in what seemed like another lifetime.

We sat on the hill, the silence ticking on as the sky got brighter, the sunrise was beautiful but it’s not what I was looking at. I was looking at Dol who was burning holes into her hands that now rested in her lap with her eyes.

“Dol.” I finally spoke after a very long silence. She solidified again, finally she looked at me and the tears in the corners of her eyes, and the pain in her expression wasn’t from her severely damaged body, which would’ve been easy. No. There was pain and fear and sadness and a million other things in her expression. Dol knew something that had caused this.

“Can you imagine knowing something, something so horribly wrong. Something that goes against every natural instinct. Something so horribly selfish that it shouldn’t exist in your head.” I opened my mouth to ask her what Hell she was talking about but she wasn’t done. “The event in said knowledge would save so many lives but the cost would be something you couldn’t bear, a weight so God Damned heavy the very thought has made it impossible to sleep. What’s the term? Sacrifice one to save the many? Why can’t there be another option though? Save the two and the many.”

She was scaring me, what the Hell was she talking about?

Dol grabbed her hair and started pulling; her knees moved up to her chest and she started sobbing. I moved and went to comfort her.

“Bella, don’t.” She whispered and I stopped.

“I know who I am; I know why I’m here.” She swallowed. “My name is Daula Marin Uley; I am a shapeshifter who was born September 13th 1997 in Forks Washington. I was born in the hospital room right next to one Isabella Marie Swan. Isabella Marie Swan and Daula Marin Uley had something happen, they had been conceived at the same time and they breathed their first breath of fresh oxygen at the same moment. We are, at lack of a better term, soul sisters. Our souls are bound to each other and because of this I have _always_ been protective of you, I became reliant on you, my entire existence relied on your faith in me. The magic that created me bound itself to you.”

I was staring; I was stunned, even if I’d had any sort of idea of what to say it wouldn’t have left my mouth. All I could do was listen as she went on.

“I came to you as I did in Volterra, my parents had lost me the second my soul bound itself to you, I had taken my spectral form and entered your head immediately. It was around the time you were five or six that you stopped believing in me the first time, I faded from existence until you arrived in Volterra, when we arrived there my sisterly bond with you forced me awake so I could protect you. We didn’t remember it and I still don’t know what happened there that drove your belief away from me but I faded again. I woke again when you left Volterra because I needed to protect you. My soul had vowed for me to keep you safe and Bella…I know what choice we will have to make.”

I was incapable of speaking, I just stared, trying to understand what she had told me but it was so much…ever since birth…my God…I couldn’t speak but somehow I found myself moving, I basically tackled her to the ground in a tight hug that either of us could less than care about the fact that it was hurting her injured side. Sisters. Soul sisters. The one question that had rattled in her head for so long, she knew, it didn’t answer everything but it was something she needed to know. _Soul sisters._

 _We are bound to the death. I can’t die until you die and you can’t die unless I let you die. Bella, I’m so sorry. I am so so sorry._ Why was she apologizing? Why did she feel the need to apologize?

“I’m so sorry.” She mumbled in my brain then the hug turned into something horrible, a crushing pain. I looked towards the city just in time to see the city and Kachiri strutting forward with Edward at her side and the others restrained behind her then something mental struck me and I sank into darkness.


	23. Twenty-Three

I didn’t have time to slowly wake, an agonizing bite to my screwed up arm woke me from my sleep and I screamed, yanking my arm but I was tied down, I could feel the pain of the rope digging into my arms, hips, and ankles. I tried to focus on the room around me but honestly there was nothing I could do, the room was pitch black and I couldn’t decide whether I was happy with the fact that I couldn’t see what was around me or more terrified about the fact that I had no idea who was there.

“About time you woke up. Of course we don’t mention I had Leah here wake you.” Kachiri’s voice made my blood run to ice. _Focus, Bella._ I breathed in slightly, I was shaking and it was more than the fear, the room I was in was _cold_. It was so cold in here that I was sure if I could see I’d be able to see my own breath. “I have a question, Isabella. Did Dol tell you everything? Did she tell you how her soul was bound to your own? Did she tell you that she couldn’t die unless you did? I’m sure she did.” Her voice was quiet and moved around me as she spoke, I tried to pinpoint her from it but all I could place was she was somewhere to my right. _Breathe._ Dol wasn’t in my head, I could sense the absence. Even when I tried to reach for her I found nothing.

“Oh sweet sweet Isabella. If only you knew the painful truth. She got so close, had she made the choice in the diner she could’ve made the choice, instead though she waited, she chose to wait and ask you. That was her horrible mistake. She fought her selfish instincts and now. Now she will pay the price.” I screamed as a sharp object cut through my arm, the cut was agonizingly slow, it felt like years as she moved the scalpel from the top of my shoulder all the way down to my wrist.

“Patience, Eddy.” I heard her voice, it was still coming from where it had before she began cutting, or was it her? Oh God…she will pay the price…oh no…that control…as if on cue a glowing tear in the darkness fell onto my arm where she had cut. No no no no…I didn’t care that it hurt, I didn’t care that the more I pulled at the ropes the more it cut into my skin and started bleeding. She was making Dol torture me. Oh God.

“You have figured it out I see.” Kachiri’s voice was full of satisfaction. I had to blink multiple times when a light flashed on. As things came into focus I regretted ever looking. We were in a solid white room, to my right, where Dol and Kachiri stood, was a table covered in a different array of objects.

I don’t know how I knew but I did. Edward stood behind my head, out of sight but her remark to him hadn’t gone unnoticed by me. To my left I could feel the faint brush of Leah’s tail against my hand, I didn’t let my eyes settle on the tortured expression on Dol’s face, my eyes settled on Kachiri who was staring at me with a look that said she had no intention of me getting out of this easily.

“Dol should be thankful. You won’t die; killing you wouldn’t be wise since having Dol immortal is much more advisable. Then I have this.” She picked up a bag of blood I hadn’t even noticed was laying on the table along with the torture items. “Carlisle’s magical healing blood. Fixes broken bones without issues, imagine how simple it will be to fix simple bleeding? Few drops of his blood and presto! Two minutes and you’ll be back to normal! Then the fun starts all over again!” She was laughing now, a terrifying laugh that made my blood ice over more than it already was.

“Also, I hope you don’t mind the cold. I once read somewhere that it can cause pain to increase, of course how will we know until we test it.” I could’ve said something but honestly, I didn’t have the energy, the cold was already making me tired and I wasn’t sure if it was from just the cold or the shivering by the cold.

At this point though I was just terrified though, I was scared to death because I knew this wasn’t going to end. Unless Dol or Leah could break the hold Kachiri had I was screwed. I believed every word that Kachiri spoke too. Edward was here though; he was present in this room. He had told me before that I was his Singer. If that was the case how long could he truly hold out with me bleeding like this?

That prospect was promising, maybe if he snapped he could kill Kachiri…

No…

Oh God…

Kachiri had planned this…

_Dol, you have to snap outta it._

“Shush Isabella.” I hadn’t let my gaze move from Kachiri so I hadn’t seen her move but she had moved and a sharp pain went across the top of my foot, causing me to scream and jerk. _Holy fucking Hell! God dammit!_ The pain moved from the top of my foot down to the bottom and I lost control of my brain, so much pain, I wanted to escape that. I could feel the agonizing pain from where the blade had cut open my foot, I had cut open my arm twice since I arrived here but I had to have been full of adrenaline or something like that because that hadn’t hurt like this. Nowhere near as horrible.

Maybe it wasn’t that, maybe it was some sadistic thing she’d done to the scalpel to make it hurt because I was about to pass out from the pain. I needed to stay awake. I didn’t trust passing out. Oh god it hurt so much.

 _Dol!_ My brain worked on its own, instincts kicking in. Dol would protect me. She was always there. The problem was just that. She couldn’t protect me, not right now, maybe never again. No matter how much my brain wanted to believe it I knew that was a lie. She wasn’t herself, not really.

_“My entire existence relies on your faith in me.”_

Her words from outside rang through my head and I wasn’t sure if it was my own brain telling me or something else. So much pain, it had to be the tools, it hurt so much…

“I find something intriguing here. The bond between you and Dol here, it’s a very potent bond. In fact if I free her just enough it appears as though she can feel exactly what you’re feeling.

So she’d let Dol out to test that. “My entire existence relies on your faith in me.” That sentence was extremely specific…if I didn’t believe in Dol anymore…I’d pushed against her so much when we’d first arrived, fighting her presence had never gotten rid of her before.

Then why would this time be different? I knew she was real…

Faith in her. She had said my faith in her, not believing in her existence but faith in her. She meant if I didn’t believe in her…if I didn’t trust her…

I screamed out again as she cut into one of legs, moving the blade agonizingly slow through my flesh, this cut had to be deeper than the others. It was amazing my thoughts were even coherent.

 _Dol can’t save me._ The thought scared me; I knew it was possible for her to break the control. She had to try.

 _She can’t save me._ I screamed again when she began cutting into my stomach, writhing and fighting, the cold and pain were trying to pull me under again. No. She would save me, she would figure it out.

 

.-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-. .-~**~-.

 

Dol was scared, she was scared and angry and every negative emotion possible, the second Kachiri had hooked her mind Dol had lost herself. Losing herself wasn’t the same as what had followed. The capture had been calm and collected; she had gone with Kachiri everywhere while Edward had been instructed to take Bella’s unconscious body to a place she referred to as “The White Room.”

The other three had been taken somewhere else, God knows where, she hadn’t stopped talking, and she told Dol exactly what she intended on doing. All because Dol had told her no. Carlisle had handed over a bag of his blood without question and all Dol had been able to do was plead with him with her eyes. And believe her, she had pleaded.

Then she had instructed Dol to torture Bella. Every baser instinct, her soul, everything, had fought. Everything except her body, she couldn’t control her body. Then Kachiri had loosened her hold and she had gotten one thought through to Bella. _“My entire existence relies on your faith in me.”_

Dol had told her that in the first place for good reason, if she ever got into a situation she couldn’t do anything in.

She hoped Bella understood what the thought meant. That’s all she could hope for. Bella’s torture lasted for a while, as selfish as it was Dol hid in her own head, trying to ignore what her body was doing to her sister.

 _Stop._ The order froze her body in place. _Time for us to heal her._ Dol wanted to scream at her but she was trapped in her body.

She could hear Bella crying behind her, her chattering teeth audible in the silence of the room, the guilt settled on her heart but there was nothing she could do but glare at Kachiri.

“Have something to say? Well don’t keep it in, spit it out.” She felt the control over her body cease, mostly, she couldn’t physically move but she had control over her mouth back.

Dol wanted to scream a million things at the woman but she didn’t, she refused to give her the satisfaction. “Bella, do it. I am beg-.” Kachiri took the control back before Dol could finish the sentence but the limited connection to Bella’s mind showed her exactly what she had assumed, the single word that Dol wished Bella wasn’t stupid enough to utter.

_Never._

God she could be such an idiot, Dol’s body took the bag of blood and walked to the side of the bed, she dumped a quarter of the bag of blood in a large cup that was on the table then sealed it and sat it down. She picked up the cup and walked to Bella’s side, she stuck her hand in the cup. Of course Kachiri wasn’t going to let this be easy, Dol cringed at the order delivered to her mind.

 _I’m so sorry…_ She whispered mentally, fighting the order as her body shoved her, covered in Carlisle’s blood, hand into one of the gashes. The agonized scream that filled the air forced Dol to selfishly retreat into the back of her mind, doing anything not to look at what was happening.

The process was repeated for each wound…Dol started to feel something though…her link with Bella…a new pain…warmth…Dol reached out as the heat got stronger…what was happening…then hot…so hot…too hot…the screams that filled the air were terrible then Kachiri’s hold on her tightened as she forced Dol to rip away from Bella.

“God dammit!” Kachiri hissed as she bolted out the door. “Don’t you touch her, Edward! Don’t you fucking dare! Carlisle!” Kachiri made a mistake, a brief mistake but a mistake all the same. Dol saw what was happening though she was still paralyzed. In her anger, the fury had clouded her for just long enough…

Claws and teeth flew through the air as Leah got control of herself, flying through the air and landing on Kachiri’s back in a few solid seconds. Leah didn’t hesitate as a terrible sound of vampire flesh ripping apart filled the air, Kachiri’s head hit the floor with a thump and her body collapsed forward.

Dol was free. She didn’t turn to see Leah rip apart Kachiri’s corpse, she was at Bella’s side as quick as she could move and Edward was across from her.

 _I swear to God if you fucking touch her you will_ not _live through it._ Edward glared at her.

“As much as I’d love to drain her dry right now, and God the restraint it is taking me not to do it. It would be stupid to do so. You know what Carlisle did to his blood?” Edward chuckled darkly and shook his head. “She’s changing. He laced his blood with his venom.”

Dol didn’t dare tap into Bella’s mind, she’d heard about vampire venom, the pain it caused, Dol couldn’t do it though, she did however begin unstrapping Bella from the cross shaped table she had been tied down to.

Dol barely noticed when Leah came up next to her and nudged her leg with her head. Carlisle had done this…he’d…the pain Bella would endure would be bad…then she’d be stronger…easier to protect…and God the pain he’d saved her…Dol mumbled comforting words as she and Edward unstrapped Bella. Dol hadn’t been able to help her and Bella hadn’t stopped believing in her, it was not a good thing.

Unless Bella’s reasons had been selfish. If Dol was gone then nothing was to stop Kachiri from killing her. For now Dol would let herself believe that her reasons had been selfish.


	24. Twenty-Four

**_Four Years Ago_ **

It turns out four years with the same girl can drag on anyone’s nerves, I would never understand how the Volturi did it. However long they’d lived with only the same vampires.

Dol only existed to me, I was the only one that saw her. I suppose her only having me made it worse though seeing as she couldn’t just go and have a chat with another vampire.

We had never figured out what exactly it was that linked us, honestly I’d stopped caring. Dol however, Dol had never stopped asking questions. She never stopped, she drove me up the walls because she asked me questions I couldn’t answer.

I could never begin to understand why she bothered asking me the questions anymore. Even with Marcus on our side the escape was a long drug out process. Waiting, waiting and more waiting. It had been two years since we’d broken Chelsea’s hold on him and we were still struggling to get him to help us.

 _“Bells.”_ I groaned and rolled over in my bed, putting my back to her.

_Not now, Dol._

_“I know I’ve been annoying the Hell out of you and I want to apologize.”_ She went through me and the bed so she was standing in front of me again. _“Hear me out. This wasn’t exactly easy but I managed it.”_

_What do you want?_

_“Get up.”_

_It’s night, Dol. We can’t leave the room._

_“I’ve looked around, you should be safe.”_

_Taking the word of my imagination doesn’t seem wise._

_“Since when have I been wrong?”_

I looked her expression over, her eyes were begging me. I hesitated then slowly sat up.

 _Where are we going?_ I asked as I got to my feet.

 _“It’s a surprise.”_ When I went to object she interrupted. _“Bells, don’t fight me on this. Trust me. Change into something nicer.”_

_Why?_

_“Humor me.”_ I hesitated then walked to my closet, pulling off the night dress I was wearing and changing into a light blue dress with black straps. _“I kind of wish I could change clothes.”_

 _I like what you wear._ The thought was absentminded, I turned and saw Dol grinning at me.

_“I knew you liked me!”_

_That is_ not _what I meant.”_

 _“Mhm.”_ The sarcasm was heavy in her voice, teasing but still sarcasm.

_You’re one to talk Miss MakeBellsWakeUpInTheMiddleOfTheNight and change into nice clothes. If I didn’t know any better I’d think we were going on a date._

_“You wish, Babe.”_ I gaped at her and she started laughing. _“I’m teasing you. I’d much rather sneak into Alec’s room when he’s getting changed.”_

_You are so screwed up!_

_“We’re how old? Fourteen? Fifteen? I think we’re old enough to-“_

_Nope nope nope nope. I’m done with this conversation, we are not doing this. Take me where you want but I don’t want to hear about your sneaking around._

She winked at me and headed towards the door, going through it.

_You’re safe to come out._

_Why is it we don’t use this trick to escape?_ I asked as I pushed the door open as quietly as possible, slipping out into the hall.

 _“I’ve already told you why. There are too many halls near the exits with too many patrols. I am only one person.”_ She headed down a hall, staying far enough ahead that if we were to stumble onto a vampire I might have a chance to run before I was caught.

_If you get to ask me the same questions a million times I get to ask you some without complaint._

_Whatever works for you, Bells._ She mumbled mentally, I could tell she was smiling though.

_So are you gonna tell me?_

_Where we’re going? No._

_I hate surprises._

_I know you do. That’s why I’m making it a surprise._

We had been wandering for a while when she finally stopped outside a door, she slipped through it and I hesitantly walked up to it, not sure if I should open it or not.

_Come on, Bells. Open it._

I pushed the door open and was surprised what was on the inside. Of course it wasn’t overly extravagant and I didn’t understand why it was there but there was a small cake sitting on a table in the middle of what looked like a storage closet.

 _“Happy birthday.”_ I blinked, my birthday? Wait. That wasn’t the relevant question.

I stared at her. “How the heck did you get a cake in here?”

_“Of course you don’t even thank me.”_

_Explain._

_“Fine.”_ Dol swallowed. _“If I focus really hard I can sometimes solidify, it isn’t easy and it makes me extremely tired but I_ can _become solid for a short while.”_ I stared at her. _“Before you say anything, don’t be mad because I didn’t tell you. I wanted to surprise you. I honestly did. I managed to snag the cake from the kitchen and sneak it in here. I know I’ve been annoying you and I wanted to remind you, I care. You’re my best friend.”_

I didn’t know what to say to her, I was lost for words. So this is what she did while I slept. She snuck around the castle and…she solidified…

“How?”

_“I can only keep the form for an hour at most before it knocks me out and back into the ghost or whatever I am form.”_

“Can you?...” If she became solid, I could touch her, I could convince myself she really existed…

She nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on something then she slowly began to become…well not transparent. I had hardly noticed her transparency but she wasn’t transparent anymore, then she opened her eyes and ran into my arms, hugging me tight.

At first I didn’t react, I didn’t know how to. She was hugging me and…she was real…oh my God…then I was hugging her back.

She pulled away after we’d been hugging for God knows how long and pressed her forehead to mine. She was just barely taller than me, just barely. The interaction between us would’ve been intimate from an outside perspective but it wasn’t. Not to me and I knew Dol well enough for it not to be for her.

“Isabella Swan.” She whispered my name quietly. “Ever since I was trapped in your head I’ve wanted to hug you.”

“Dol, I have never once thought I would be standing here with you.” I held onto her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go.

She let go and stepped back, pulling out of my grip. “If you aren’t careful I might think I was right earlier.” I made a noise of annoyance as she grinned at me. “Now I want to eat this cake considering I’ve never had food before.”

After a second we sat down at opposite ends of the table and Dol took a small knife I hadn’t noticed before and cut it in half, pushing each half onto one side of the table.

“You forgot the forks.”

“Utensils are so last decade. Eating with your hands is a lot more fun. Screw Aro and his rules.”

“You’ve never eaten before.”

“I’ve experienced you eating though. Much better with your hands.” Then she stuck her hand in the cake and shoved it in her mouth, her face getting covered in the icing. I bit my lip, hesitating, then did the same thing, giggling quietly.

“Bells?” She mumbled around the cake, oh my God this cake was amazing. So sweet…

“Yeah, Dol?” I was chewing the cake, savoring the flavor. I was never given treats, I had been eating what I vaguely remembered as the five basic food groups for a long time.

“I wanted to ask you something…” She hesitated. “All that teasing about you liking me… You do still like me, right?... Like as a friend…”

I stopped chewing and stared at her. “Dol, are you really asking me this? My God I thought we shared a brain.”

She smiled shyly and looked at the table, avoiding my look. “Bells, you realize you are my only friend but I don’t think you understand. I wouldn’t want another friend. If I could see anyone else right now I wouldn’t care because at the end of the day I would do anything to keep you alive. When I harass you it’s because I care. I’m terrified you will die in here.”

“Dol, I…”

“You don’t need to respond to this, I just need you to know.”

“When I ignore you, Dol it isn’t because I think you are stuck with me.”

“That’s not what-“

“I don’t care that it wasn’t what you said. I know that’s what you were implying. I ignore you because you drive me up the freaking walls.” I laughed without humor. “My God, Dol. You are my best friend. I’ve told you this before. I get it, you want to protect me. You tell me the same things _over and over_. I ignore you because it’s the _same_ thing. _Every single day._ I tell you not to bring it up but you do.”

“Bells-“

“Jesus Christ, Dol.” I got up and walked over to her, pulling her to her feet and made her look at me. “You’re my best friend.” I wrapped my arms around her neck. “What do I need to do to prove that?”

“I don’t know, Bells.” She whispered and tears streaked her cheeks. “I just can’t believe it. I honestly can’t believe it.”

“What if I gave you my first kiss?” We went quiet.

“How would that prove anything?” She finally asked after a bit more silence.

“It is one of the only precious things I have.”

“Swear you don’t have a crush on me?” I lifted my hand and smacked her in the back of her head, she giggled and grinned. “Honestly, Bells, I don’t think kissing you is on my list of things in life. But. I know you only own three precious things.” She kissed my forehead and gently pulled us apart. “I only have a couple minutes left.” She sat down on the floor and sighed softly. “I’m scared, Bells. What will happen to us?”

I sat down in front of her. “I don’t care what happens, Dol. Never let us lose each other.”

“Never stop believing in me.” She whispered and laid back. I lay down beside her and took her hand.

“Never, Dol.” I mumbled, suddenly feeling the exhaust from the night hit me at the same time that Dol fell asleep. A couple minutes passed and I noticed something, she had said she would return to her ghostly form when she fell asleep. Why was she still touching me then?

I kept waiting but she didn’t change, she stayed solid. Oh no. What had happened? She told me she would go back to how she was but she hadn’t. That was when I heard it. The clicking of heels. Oh no. Someone was coming.

“Dol, wake up.” I whispered in her ear. _Dol, wake up. Come on._

I jumped when the door opened. “What do we have here?” Jane’s voice filled my ears and Dol started screaming.


	25. Twenty-Five

I didn’t know how long I burned for, all I could think was how much it _burned_ , pure, raw, agony. It didn’t matter how much screaming I did because the pain just _wouldn’t leave._ It was like _I was being sawed in half, hit by a car, trampled by bulls, and submerged in acid_. All I could do was thrash and scream as the agony tore through me, I was dead. I had died and gone to Hell. There was no way this was real life, I was being punished for whatever I had done wrong. If the agony hadn’t torn me out of the thoughts I might’ve asked myself what the Hell I had done to deserve this but as it were I couldn’t do anything but scream and thrash.

Then the burning began to dull, slowly, ever so slowly, I finally hit a point where I could focus, slightly, enough to try and remember…Kachiri…she had poisoned me, that had to be what had happened. This was just part of her torture. The pain was still flaring through me but it was almost as if my mind had expanded. It was as if I was trapped in my body but I didn’t _need_ to be aware of it. I could shut that part of my mind away.

 _Count to three._ The thought was my own; it was strange because I was so used to struggling to figure out how to compose myself. Okay. _One. Two. Three._ My head was clearing now, the pain was terrible but again I blocked myself away from the pain, didn’t allow myself to feel the agonizing pain that my body was still enduring.

 _Dol._ I tore at my mind, looking for the memories but it was so _difficult._ The memories were there but they were so foggy…Blue haired hallucination, there she was. _My soul sister._ My mind mumbled silently. Absently. Whatever was happening to me I better not start hearing voices again because I don’t think I’d be lucky enough to get another Dol.

 _Listen._ Again the thought was my own, my subconscious focusing me because I had so much _room_ to think. I could focus on the memory of Dol while also doing as I told myself. Even though my body was still screaming and thrashing I listened. I focused on the sounds around me.

I could hear quiet snoring somewhere to my right…my own heartbeat…I could hear my own heartbeat…that had to be what that unnatural drumming was. It was beating so _fast._

Quiet whispering came from somewhere behind me, I managed to make it out past the sound of my own screaming though.

“She’s waking up.” That voice had to be Alice’s. The relief I felt at that was amazing, Alice was okay.

“Go get Dol.” Emmett spoke louder than Alice had.

“I don’t want to leave her.” Rosalie’s voice was a growl. “Make Mike do it.”

“Where is she at?” Emmett’s voice was full of annoyance.

“The dungeon.” Alice said after a second.

“If she doesn’t stop going down there it’s going to raise suspicion.” Emmett mumbled before I heard the sound of a door creaking open then slamming.

To my right I heard a startled gasp and a groan of complaint as someone woke up. If I listened closely…I snapped back into my brain, realization hitting me like a ton of bricks.

 _No no no no no no._ The burning…oh God…they… I sound mixed between anger, shock, and fear escaped my body between the screaming, it was an obvious sound and vaguely in another pocket of my brain I heard the sound of feet approaching.

Then the pain started to subside, the burning lessening in most of my body until, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, my heart beat its last beat.

I strangled cry of distress escaped my mouth, I didn’t want to open my eyes though, I didn’t want to face the reality of what happened. I wanted to hide forever in this pocket of my brain, pretending that this horrible thing hadn’t happened.

Then I felt Dol join me, my new mind allowed me to visualize her standing there with me as if we were in the same room together. I could feel her searching my mind and imaginary Dol searched my face.

 _Oh, God. Bella._ Her mental voice was in shock.

 _Dol._ My mind whispered the words.

_Please for the love of God tell me you ignored me to save your own ass._

I hadn’t expected her to say that. That was the last thing on my mind.

_Please tell me you told me no because you would rather suffer and live than die._

_I won’t answer that question, Dol._

I could feel her internally wince when I said that, it didn’t matter, she knew the answer. She didn’t need to ask, she just wanted to hear me say it and I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. Instead I opened my eyes, pushing her to the back of my mind.

I wanted to observe the new world around me but there was something else that drew my focus. There were two people to my left; I barely noticed that though because my nose had me drawn to the right. I was on my feet in a second and had lunged for the source of the delicious smell, I didn’t get a chance to finish my lunge before something hit me from the side sending me across the room and crashing through a chair.

I barely had the chance to figure out what was happening before someone was on top of me, pinning me down. I instinctively hissed and went to bite before I saw the blue hair; I froze in place and fell back in my mind, finding the part of it that was looking to feed, the thirsty part, when I found it I buried it behind my main consciousness, for now this would have to work.

When I focused on reality Dol was watching me warily, I didn’t dare breathe though.

“Are you good?” She asked quietly.

I swallowed and nodded, shaking like a leaf. My throat felt like it was on fire but I forced that behind the wall as well.

“Okay.” Slowly Dol rose up and I stood, I glanced behind her and realized why she had attacked me, Mike was standing behind her, watching me with extreme caution.

“I’m sorry.” I mumbled quietly.

“I wouldn’t be in here if I hadn’t known the risk. Besides, I’m so full of SH I doubt you feeding on me would’ve gone far.” Even though he spoke calmly he stood warily, it was obvious he still didn’t trust me.

“Bella?”

I looked at Rosalie, she had mentioned she could pass as a vampire but I hadn’t realized what she meant, there were only two heartbeats in this room, and she actually had no heartbeat. It was a little surprising but honestly so much had happened it hid in the back of her mind.

Rosalie pushed forward past the bed and Dol, wrapping her arms around me in a hug then she pulled back and punched me square in the jaw. It didn’t hurt and even the pain it might’ve caused had I still been human wouldn’t have compared to what had been done to me in that room.

“God dammit, Bella.” She growled. “You absolute idiot.” When I stared at her she pushed me, causing me to stumble back briefly. “Dol told us. _Why? Why_ the _Hell_ would you put yourself through that?”

Everyone in the room was looking at me; I could feel the burn in my throat pushing at my mind, trying to return to front and center. I closed my eyes and debated on how to answer the question.

After a short silence I let out a low breath. Had I started breathing again? I had heard newborns had no control, was this trick with blocking parts of my mind an ability?

“She told me that she needed me to lose faith in her. She would cease to exist if I lost faith in her. The issue was she was asking me to do something I could never do. In the midst of all my pain all I could think about Dol was going to save me. Even when I felt doubt my mind reminded me that she has never let me down and she would keep fighting. It didn’t matter what I wanted to believe because the horrible truth was even if I’d wanted to stop believing in her I was mentally incapable.”

I closed my eyes. “I would rather go through whatever horrible plans Kachiri-“ Her name hit me and panic flared up inside me, I looked around the room, a terrible feeling twisting in my gut and if I’d been able to I would’ve been sick. Where was she?

“She’s dead.” Rose grabbed my shoulders and forced herself into my vision. “Bella, calm down.”

I dropped to my knees when memories of the knife tearing through my flesh rang through my head. I had to look at my arm and when I did I cringed, my skin where Dol had put Carlisle’s blood, and venom, in my wounds was scarred, slightly darker against the paleness of my skin. I choked back my anger and pain, not here, not now.

“Bella?” I blinked and looked up; Dol’s constantly changing eyes were now inches from mine. She was searching my expression and I could sense the apology that was about to leave her lips. I knew her all too well.

“It’s not your fault.” I mumbled before she could say anything.

“I know this isn’t exactly the right time.” My head jerked up and I glared at Edward who was standing in the doorframe.

“Where’s Leah?” My mind opened up and a memory of tearing vampire flesh tore through me, barely audible over the sounds of my screams.

“You need to feed.” Dol changed the subject as she stood, trying to distract me. Screw that, the thirst was behind a wall and she wasn’t getting off so easy.

“Where the Hell is Leah?”

The discomfort in the room was obvious. Emmett and Alice shared a look at the same time Rose and Dol did. “She’s being punished for the murder of Kachiri.”

Fear, anger, and pain soared through me.

“Where?”

“Bella, you can’t. Don’t argue about this one. You _can’t_ interfere. I don’t care if you refuse to accept it. She is being considered the victim because she was torturing a _human_. Her reason for detaining you in the first place was because you were so open minded. I don’t care if those were her true intentions or not. Leah killed her before there could be an investigation.” Alice’s voice was harsh. “You aren’t allowed to wander the halls right now because you haven’t fed. This brings me to a question. How the Hell are you staying focused with Mike in the room? You should be frenzied.”

“She’s a mental shield.” Edward spoke quietly from the door, his eyes on me in that way that had always made me uncomfortable. “It’s why I haven’t been able to read her mind since she got here and if I had to guess she can probably block things in her own mind in some way. She doesn’t want to be thirsty shove it back.”

“You seem to know what you’re talking about.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Carlisle had theorized on it.” He shrugged, looking as though this happened every day.

Dol winced, I barely caught the movement out of the corner of my eye but it was there. “I need to get back down there. Bella, I’ll be at the corner of your mind if you need me.” I didn’t get to respond before she dropped down through the floor.

“I know I’m not liked by any of you but is it at all possible for me to have two minutes with her?”

The group shared a look. “Let me hear what he has to say, it’s not like he can drain me dry and I’m sure Dol will and Alice will be keeping a close eye on me.”

“Try anything and I will have your head.” Rosalie growled and headed out the door. I could tell he planned on grabbing her arm but he resisted. The others followed her out warily.

“Can I call you Bella?”

“No.” I glared at him. I had become accustomed to being called Bella but since he’d asked I decided it should be a privilege. I didn’t respect him, especially after learning what I’d learned about Renesmee and his apparent interest in brunettes.

“I know you don’t trust me and you have every right. I’m not here to do what I want to do. I wouldn’t make it two feet. I’m here to tell you the truth. What happened to you, it was violating a lot of laws.”

“Which part? The part where Kachiri tortured me while using my sister or the part where I got turned into a fucking vampire? The one creature I’d have rather died than become, I had no choice in the matter!”

“Kachiri torturing you, -as far as everyone is concerned,- was for legitimate reasons.” I stared at him then I lunged. I grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, going for his neck to bite his head off, literally, someone grabbed my arms and pulled me off him though. I fought against the hold as someone else took hold of me from the front. The one behind me wrapped their arms around my chest holding me in place while the person in front of me took hold of my shoulders.

“Bella.” I hissed at her, not looking at Rosalie, staring at Edward with pure hatred. “Bella!”

“Legitimate reasons! Those were fucking legitimate reasons! Tying me down to a table and having my fucking sister torture me was legitimate reasons! Torturing me because Dol didn’t want to become a slave to her was a legitimate reason to torture me! Because of what Carlisle did to me I will _never_ be able to forget this! I will have to live with that shit for the rest of my life and Leah is getting punished for it!” I kicked Rose hard enough to send her flying to the wall and ripped out of Emmett’s hold. I didn’t do what my instincts told me to do and jump down onto Edward and rip his God Damned head off. I grabbed my hair and dropped to my knees, pulling at it and screaming.

I wanted to crawl into the back of my brain and never come out. I didn’t want this; I didn’t want to be here. I could do that. I could crawl into the back of my brain, I could hide from reality.

In that moment I did just that. I fell into the back of my brain, I went to the back and setup a reality worth living. My mom, my dad, and my sister, a nice house and a happy life. No memories of what was happening here, I would be safe from what had happened. I would be happy.

I opened my eyes and smiled at my mom.


	26. Twenty-Six

Dol was quiet; it had been a week since Bella had lost her head. Even Dol couldn’t penetrate it though she had tried many times. Ever since the incident with Kachiri things had been bad. They had been bad for her and bad for all the shifters. Especially bad for Leah though.

Leah was being punished for the murder of Kachiri, Dol had spent a lot of time in the cages with Leah and when the vampire’s torture became too bad she would leave. Dol was aware that it wasn’t entirely her fault. She couldn’t take the full blame and she honestly didn’t want to. She should’ve cared about Leah suffering because Dol would’ve rather kept her own mind than face the problems. The right thing to do would have been go to Kachiri and let her take control of Dol’s mind. She’d seen enough of Kachiri’s mind to know that if she hadn’t fought her so much Bella wouldn’t have been tortured.

Then there was the girl screaming in one of the vacant bedrooms. Bella. Dol had begged and pleaded with the vampires for a way to keep her from changing. She was aware of the mental capacity vampires had, they could recollect all memories and the scars…Carlisle had told them every wound that his blood had entered would probably scar which meant almost every wound she had cut, Kachiri had made sure of that.

Could Bella make it through this? She was already fragile mentally. A combination of Aro holding her prisoner for most her life and years of believing Dol was her losing her mind had caused so much mental damage.

Would Bella make it or would she fall off the wagon?

She sensed when Bella woke up, her mind became active; it wasn’t the same burn of agony running through it anymore. Her head was full of confusion closely followed by fear.

 _Oh, God. Bella_. The thought had been her own as she’d entered into her sister’s mind, ignoring the agony that she could feel with her.

 _Dol._ Her mind had been full of anger, fear, and pain. So much pain.

 _Please for the love of God tell me you ignored me to save your own ass._ _Please tell me you told me no because you would rather suffer and live than die._ Dol hadn’t meant to bring it up. She didn’t really care about that right now. The problem with being in your head was the back of your mind sometimes made an appearance.

_I won’t answer that question, Dol._

Dol had winced, mentally and externally. She had known from the events that had unfolded that Bella had believed in her. She had never given up faith in the fact that Dol could break free from the control.

It wasn’t healthy. It was a bad sign. Someone should not have that much faith in another person. Nothing could’ve prepared Dol for what followed, Bella finally fell off the rails, she snapped and it wasn’t pleasant.

Dol had felt it falling into place. The soul based bond between them had cracked, not broken but cracked and Dol would never be able to explain. It had felt as though her soul had been ripped from her chest and then someone had tortured her soul for a millennium. The agony was raw and had it not been for Mike it might have destroyed her mentally. He was her Imprintee. She had to protect him. No matter how bad things got she had to pull through. So she had.

Pull through was the wrong term. She was surviving. It had been two days since Bella had snapped but it felt like years for Dol.

“Dol?” Dol blinked when Mike woke up, they were in another guest room that Stefan had given them; at least Stefan was on their side. She was lying by him staring at the ceiling blankly and he was lying under the covers on his back.

“Yeah, Mike?” She was distant, drained of energy. Dol had managed to slip to the surface and discover this amazing thing called alcohol. It didn’t really affect her the way it did humans but it did fog her brain enough that she didn’t have to _think._

“You reek.” The statement was sad, Mike wasn’t stupid. He knew why Dol had stooped to the level she had. It didn’t matter though because Dol’s only priority was to _keep him alive._

“That’s because I’ve been drinking.” The words were colder than she’d met for but she couldn’t help it, she was miserable. Her soul was still cracked, the link between her and her sister was painfully weak.

“Dol, I know it hurts. You can’t self-destruct though.”

“I’m not self-destructing!” She snapped and got out of bed, the action had been sudden and as a consequence she stumbled forward, Mike had foreseen this though and managed to crawl across the bed and catch her before she could fall and pull her back.

“You call this normal?” He pulled her back down onto the bed and pinned her beneath him. “My God, Dol I barely know you and I know this is wrong. You are fucking collapsing in on yourself. You’re supposed to be able to protect me but how the Hell can you protect me when you can’t even stand up straight.”

Dol glared at him. “Mike, Move.”

“No.” He grabbed her shoulders and held her down as she moved to duck out from under him. “Not until we talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Even though she said it with sincerity the tears filling her eyes betrayed her.

“Dol.” He climbed off her and pulled her into a sitting position, not letting go of her. “You’re my Shifter. You’re my Guardian and currently you are the only one I have.” Jessica wasn’t talking to Mike currently, mad because he’d stayed in the city with Dol rather than go back to the surface with her. He hadn’t done it to offend her; he’d done it because Dol gave him no choice. She’d told him either he stayed willingly or she would have Stefan force him to stay. She couldn’t split up from Bella and she couldn’t split up from Mike.

She’d do whatever she could to keep them safe; whatever she had to.

“Talk to me, Dol.” She swallowed, looking at him with agony filling her.

“What can I say? What the Fuck can I tell you that you don’t already know!”

“The truth! You collapsed in the cages; you collapsed and appeared on top of Leah. The vampires that were torturing her said that you kept disappearing and reappearing screaming bloody fucking murder!”

Dol stared at him in pure shock, dead silence between them. He hadn’t told her what he knew. She didn’t know what he knew. She swallowed and whispered, “it…felt like my soul was ripped out of my body…I can never explain what it felt like when our connection cracked because there is no way to explain it. The fucked up thing is every single time I think about it I want to blame her. She’s off in Bella land, lost in her own mind and I’m trapped out here dealing with my soul being fractured or whatever the fuck happened to it.”

“Dol…”

“I can remember when we were younger; Kachiri was kind enough to open my mind up to a lot of those memories.” Dol laughed without humor, shaking her head. “Bella was my only friend in those tunnels, the only one who could see and hear me. When I broke down and thought I was going to break we shared these…moments…we would have conversations in our minds, quiet to everyone but us.” She closed her eyes and lay down; the cloudiness in her brain was all but gone. “When she cracked, I lost my retreat.” Dol smiled sadly. “I have never had anyone else to confide in before. I think that’s why I’m losing it.”

“Why don’t you talk to me about her?” He mumbled and moved closer to her, gently taking her hand.

“I don’t want to talk about her.” Dol mumbled and looked at him, rolling onto her side and propping herself up on her arm.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Talk about yourself.”

“That would force me to talk about her.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t want to talk.” She mumbled quietly.

“What do you want to do?”

She opened her eyes and looked at him again. “Get lost in the glory of alcohol again. It would give me the perfect excuse to hit on you.” Dol giggled softly at the shocked look on his face. “Oh relax, pretty boy. I prefer dark haired boys.”

“Dark haired boys? Can I hear about him?”

Of course Mike wasn’t stupid; she’d led herself into this trap. Dol bit her lip; she hadn’t talked about Alec since she’d returned. It wouldn’t hurt to do it and it would keep her mind off things.

“When we lived in Volterra I didn’t have much to do but wander the castle when Bella slept because I didn’t sleep. There was a boy there named Alec.”

“Why do you call him a boy?”

“Because he was changed when he was around thirteen; he isn’t a man.”

“Doesn’t that make it screwed up; the fact that you have a thing for him?”

“Emmett is mated to a six year old. I don’t think age matters much for us. The point is I watched him, all the time.” Dol let out a breath as the memories hit her. “Oh, God…” She swallowed. “I forgot…I…”

Tears filled Dol’s eyes as she remembered the most selfish thing she had done. Not long before she disappeared, she could feel the conflict in her memories. The choice she’d made. “Oh my God. I kept us trapped there. I lied to Bella and told her it wasn’t possible for me to sneak us out. I let her suffer because I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t _want_ to go.”

Mike said nothing to this, watching Dol in silence as she started crying.

“I let Bella suffer in Volterra because I didn’t want to leave a man who didn’t know I existed.” Dol groaned and fell back again, wanting to strangle herself. “I’m so fucking selfish.” She whispered as tears flooded her face.

“Dol.” She ignored Mike. “ _Dol.”_ She didn’t fight when he forced her onto her side. “I’ve heard that word used so many times about you. Rosalie used it, you use it. There is a line between selfishness and doing what is right for you. Rosalie called you selfish for leaving before she finished healing, that wasn’t selfish. I know what was happening during that. You’d have been taken hostage by Kachiri.”

“And Bella wouldn’t be lost in her own head.”

“Oh for the love of God, Dol. You have to stop blaming yourself for _everything._ You both are so screwed in the head. Being selfish in certain situations doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“I could’ve freed her from the Volturi.” Dol closed her eyes and sat up slowly, crawling over to Mike and sitting down beside him. She leaned on him.

“Don’t do that to yourself. You don’t have to be who you were then. You can change it now.”

“I could’ve gotten her out.” Dol sighed and closed her eyes, touching the bond that held her to him with her soul.

“That was the past.”

“Before Kachiri. I had planned on taking her from the city and burning it to the ground, I was going to kill everyone inside; human, shifter, and vampire. I didn’t care because it would have been _easier._ If I’d burnt the city there wouldn’t have been nearly as many vampires to come after us if we escaped. I _wanted_ to do it. Then I made the right choice and chose to ask Bella’s opinion. She got tortured by me because of it. So you see, I’m stuck here. I make the decision that works out in our favor and I get yelled at and the crap beat outta me. I make the right choice and I end up with the memories of what I did to my sister forever imbedded in my brain. If Bella hadn’t lost her head I’d be dragging you, Bella, and Jessica away from this place and killing anyone who got in my way.” Defeat, that’s what Dol was feeling, that’s all she was feeling. She wasn’t upset, she wasn’t angry, she was just defeated. She didn’t have any fight left in her.

“We need to get Bella out of her head.” He finally said after a short while of silence.

Dol snorted, tempted to smack him in the back of the head for saying something she was already well aware of. “How do we plan on doing that?”

“You are the only one who can.”

“I’ve _tried._ ”

“You have tried to force your way into her mind. Have you tried joining her?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Neither of you sound like you like being forced to do things.” Dol stared at him. She hadn’t thought of that. She’d been so lost in her depression…She tackled Mike to the bed and kissed him, for only a second, before pulling back with a massive grin on her face.

“I may have lied about dark haired boys. I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you.” She climbed off him and jumped out of the bed, heading for the door.

“Now come on light haired guy. I have a sister to draw out.” He was staring after her, confusion and - mostly hidden- disappointment etched into his expression. She turned and grinned. “Come on, light hair.” She pulled open the door and froze in place when she was met with emerald green eyes.

“Edward.” Her voice was full of disgust, she blamed him for this. His lack of care to approach the situation had lead Bella to her mental collapse. At least that was how Dol saw it. She chose not to think about it.

“Stefan has requested your presence.”

“I have to go see Bella.”

“Leah is being tried tonight. You and I are the only witnesses to what happened therefore you are required to attend.”

“But-“

“Don’t fight me on this.” He lifted his eyes to look over her shoulder. “Take your horned up human and join us at the Main Counsel Chamber. I can imagine your snooping of the city has given you a pretty good idea of where it’s at. Don’t keep them waiting. Zafrina wants her sister’s death to be avenged.”

Dol might have teased Mike for Edward’s remark but she was stuck again. The right choice or the selfish one. The longer Bella was lost in her head the harder it might be to get her back but if she didn’t show up as a witness…Leah might die…

“Dol…”

“I…” Dol swallowed. What would she do?

“We can figure this out.”

“Leah saved my life.” Dol spoke quietly as she turned right and headed in the direction of Bella’s room, she could feel Mike chase after her.


	27. Twenty-Seven

“Bells!” I hid under my blankets as my mom shook me awake. “Come on, Bells. Your sister is already up and you’re gonna be late for school!” 

“I don’t want to.” I buried my head under the pillow as she pulled my blanket off, the house was cold, I gasped as the air hit me and I felt flashes of pure agony across my skin… 

“Five more minutes.” I groaned as she pulled the pillow off my head. 

“If you’re late again Jane is going to kill you.” 

“It’s not like she teaches me anything I don’t already know.” 

“Get up, Bells.” I sighed and blinked rapidly, letting the light in my room fill my vision, I slowly sat up. My mom seemed to take that as my surrender as she fled the room, not two seconds later my sister was standing in the door with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed. 

“Did you tell mom?” 

“Tell mom what?” 

“You know what.” 

“No I didn’t tell her. I’m sure Jane will gladly share what you did though.” 

“Wonderful.” Dol sighed and sat down on the floor in my doorframe. “I didn’t _mean_ to do it.” 

“Oh yes, pulling the fire alarm in the school is something everyone does on _accident_.” 

“Okay I meant to do it but Jane was making me mad.” 

“You got into an argument with her about whether or not vampires exist.” 

“They do.” 

“Okay, Dol. Even if vampires _do_ exist. And this is a big _if._ Why the _Hell_ would they sparkle in the sunlight? Do you know how stupid that sounds?” 

“I know it sounds stupid but…I don’t know…it sounds…right.” 

 _Vampires sparkle in the sunlight, Isabella. No matter how much he wants to chase you down he won’t risk exposing us to the humans. On the day you escape you will do it in the daytime._ That voice… 

“What can possibly be right about sparkly vampires?” I shook my head as I got out of bed and walked to my closet. “Next thing you’ll tell me is they don’t have fangs.” 

“They don’t have fangs. My God, Bella. Do you listen to anything I say?” 

“So vampires sparkle, not burn, and they don’t have fangs? Where the Hell do you get this stuff?” 

“It comes to me.” Dol mumbled defensively as she got up.

I pulled a change of clothes out of my closet and began to change. “Well tell your imagination it’s dumb.” 

“You’re dumb.” She called, her voice further away. She must’ve been heading down to the car. Good. I could get dressed in peace. I picked up a small diamond necklace that my parents had bought me when I was younger, I couldn’t wear it around my neck anymore so I wrapped it around my wrist and…

_“Isabella.” Aro spoke and I turned to face him. “Where did you obtain that necklace from?”_

I touched my eyes as tears filled them, why was I crying?

 _Breathe, Bells. Pull yourself together._ I did what I told myself but it felt odd, as though me telling me to do something was…off.

“Bella! If you don’t get down here I’m leaving without you!” Dol’s voice was threatening and cut me from my inner thoughts.

“Coming!” I grabbed my backpack off the floor and bolted out my room.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

I sat in class and stared out the window as Jane rambled on about something I already knew. The sky was dark and cloudy, looking as though it would rain but it never did, I thought about that. When was the last time it’d been sunny?

_The ground in front of me began to light as the sun began to peek over the horizon. If it wasn’t for the glasses I wouldn’t have been able to handle the amount of light the beautiful orb was putting off. The sky went through several beautiful color changes, shades of purples, reds, oranges. I didn’t want to look away._

“Isabella?” I blinked and looked at the girl at the front of the room where Jane was standing with her arms over her chest, eyes narrowed.

“What?” I heard Dol snicker from her desk next to me.

“Care to tell me what I was talking about?”

“I wasn’t listening.” I didn’t bother making an excuse. Something felt off.

“I suppose I will be talking to your parents about you as well tonight.”

“Have fun with that.” I grimaced, not looking forward to explaining to my parents why I hadn’t been paying attention.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

Mike, Dol, and I were in front of the school, they were sitting next to each other, her head on his shoulder, and I was lying in the grass staring at the cloudy sky.

“What’s on your mind?” Dol asked, leaning her head over mine, blocking my vision.

“Nothing.”

“You’ve been lost in your head all day. What is going on in there?”

“I don’t really know.” I mumbled thoughtfully.

I bent my head back awkwardly when she leaned back and wrapped her arm around Mike’s shoulder, laying her head on it. “His girlfriend is going to kill you, you know that, right?”

“I’ve explained to her that we’re just friends.”

I snorted at that. “And I’m known all across the globe.”

“We are just friends. Of course it doesn’t mean I won’t take the chance to hit on him when I can.” She grinned at me.

“We’re just friends, Bella.” Mike chuckled and shook his head.

“Now that we aren’t in a rush to be late for school, time to talk.” I moved my vision back to the sky, wishing the clouds would go away.

“What about?” I asked absentmindedly.

“Shapeshifters.” I could practically feel her grinning behind me.

“What is with you and supernatural creatures?”

“I’m trying to get through to you.”

“What?” What she said seemed to go in one ear and out the other even though I was trying to listen.

“I _said_ ; there’s no reason they shouldn’t exist.” That didn’t seem like what she’d said… “You really don’t listen to a word I say do you. So I was reading about shapeshifters today. There isn’t much to go on in the library though. I was reading about how shapeshifters could take the form of one particular animal, or, in extremely rare cases, a ghost like form that only other half breeds can see.”

“What is a half breed?” I was actually paying attention to what she was talking about, it was interesting me which was saying something considering I hadn’t been interested in anything in a while.

“It’s a creature that is two creatures, werewolves, shapeshifters, and hybrids fall into that.”

“A hybrid?”

“Like a vampire human mix.”

“So a vampire gets a human pregnant and…”

“She has a baby.”

I absentmindedly lifted my hand up and touched my shoulder, running my hand down the skin. It was almost as though I was tracing something in the skin… _…it felt like years as she moved the scalpel from the top of my shoulder all the way down to my wrist._

I closed my eyes and sighed softly. “When was the last time you remember seeing the sun?”

“Eight years ago.”

My eyes snapped open and I rolled my head back looking at her.

“Eight years?”

“I said a week ago. Don’t you remember? Last Monday it was sunny out. Where the Hell did you get eight years?”

“You said Eight years ago.” I pushed myself up so that I was sitting and turned, narrowing my eyes at her.

“Are you going crazy, Bella? I said a week.”

I refused to let myself blow it off. “No. You specifically said eight years ago.”

Dol and Mike stared at me but that wasn’t what caught my attention, it was who was behind her. I blinked several times. Maybe I was going crazy. That wasn’t possible. I stared over their shoulder at the one person who couldn’t possibly be standing there. That was impossible. Yet she was there, blue hair and ever changing eyes. She was standing directly behind the same figure, blue hair and ever changing eyes, one sitting in front of the other.

“That…Dol…I…” I tripped over my words as I scrambled back.

My Dol, the one I knew, the one that was my sister, she had a look of pure confusion in her expression. Other Dol, the one that couldn’t possibly exist, had a pained look in her expression.

“So this is where you escaped to? A real life.” Other Dol sighed and looked at the sky. “Still won’t give yourself the satisfaction of a sunny sky.” My Dol heard her, turned her torso so that she could see who was behind her and screamed.

“W…that…” She scrambled to her feet and backed up away from her and behind me.

“I don’t have much time.” Other Dol looked at me warily. “I know your mental state is fragile right now but you let me in so that means you should be at least somewhat open to reason. I’m so sorry that I had to come in but this isn’t good. It isn’t healthy.” She swallowed and held out her hand. “I need you to trust me.” She looked behind me at My Dol. “I need you to let yourself out of this.”

“What…”

“You’re her subconscious. You manifested yourself as me because I’m the only person in the world she would ever listen to. If it ever came to this option you knew you’d be able to push her in the right direction.”

“I can’t do that. She needs to forget this. She needs to keep living.”

“Bella, please.” She looked back at me, eyes pleading.

“What the Hell is happening!”

“You…you lost your mind.” She swallowed slowly. “Well not exactly, you can’t exactly go insane because you’re a vampire but you buried yourself in the back of your mind and created an entire world then blocked out the bad memories.”

“She has to forget this, Dol. You need to leave.” Then Other Dol began to fade…

I blinked and looked at Dol who was still sitting in front of me leaned up against Mike.

“Bella, are you paying any attention to me?”

“Not really.” I mumbled and put my arms at my side, leaning down on them and looking up at the sky.

“You never pay any attention to me. You’re a terrible sister.”

I closed my eyes and sighed softly, smiling slightly. “It’s my job to ignore you.”

“Mhm.” Sarcasm filled that one sound.


	28. Twenty-Eight

Dol nearly broke down when Bella’s subconscious effectively booted Dol from her mind. She needed to focus though. At the last second she’d turned and headed back in the direction of where Leah was. Briefly explaining to Mike that she was going to need him to guide her body through the halls and telling him exactly how to get to the main hall. Then her body had basically been on autopilot, moving in the directions in which Mike guided her and her mind had gently pressed across the connection between her and Bella.

Rather than the solid wall she’d grown accustomed to she was met with a sort of fog that she had slipped through easily and fallen into the yard of a school.

“Dol?” She stumbled as she reestablished herself in her body, if Mike hadn’t grabbed her she would’ve fallen straight forward.

“It didn’t work. But she let me in so it’s a start.” She looked around, they were one turn from arriving at the doors that would take them into the Main Counsel Chamber. She took a deep breath, collecting herself. She knew what would happen here. She’d be asked questions about the events that led to Kachiri’s death, Maggie would check the honesty of her words, and they would decide if Leah would be killed.

She also knew that they would try to lead her into Leah’s guilt. This was different though, unlike when Emmett had been on trial or Bella had been interrogated both of the groups would choose what would happen. She had to win three of their votes. Two of those votes belonged to Kachiri’s sisters.

She took Mike’s hand and looked at him, he smiled and that was what she needed. She took a deep breath and headed around the corner, Laurent was standing there with Edward, Laurent was leaned against the wall and Edward was standing with his back to the door, facing Laurent.

“- she’s dead.” Edward growled at Laurent and looked up at Dol as she approached.

“Hello.” She smiled sweetly. _I really hope he doesn’t try and kill Mike. That would be horrible._ A thought that was meant for him, a challenge. His eyes moved from her to Mike and he shook his head, chuckling.

“You really think I’m that stupid? I saw your brain when Bella went after him. She’s your soul sister. I can’t imagine what you’d do to me if I made a move. Besides, I just fed. I’m still really disappointed that I never got any of Isabella’s blood.” He grimaced. “Don’t talk about her.”

“Do you honestly think they aren’t going to talk about her when you’re in there? She will be the main focus of their arguments.” He shook his head when she growled at him, granted Dol’s growl was more of an instinct from being around vampires for years and not really threatening except for the symbolization of what it meant. “Zafrina and Senna want vengeance. They’re out for more than just Leah’s blood. They want you and Bella on a platter. More importantly they want to require punishment for you.”

“There are four people in there in charge of what happens to us. Two of which want vengeance. How am I supposed to convince one of them of Leah’s innocence?”

“You won’t. There is a rule in place that if the Main Counsel -the _Lado-_ should be cut down to an even number, the _Dari_ class vampires will conjoin and vote as the majority.

“So what you’re saying is the _Dari_ will decide our innocence?” _We both know that the Romaz will take our side, I don’t have to be a mind reader, they saw what Kachiri did out of anger._

“The Dari and the Romaz will make the final decision since I’m sure the sisters won’t cave.” He made a slight movement towards the door; a signal Dol assumed meant that they were being listened to. He turned to face it and Laurent moved in front of him to push it open, the three of them stepped through the door and began walking forward.

The room inside wasn’t extravagant in any way. It was a rounded room with a tall ceiling, at the back of the room was a large table that stretched for half the length, Zafrina sat on the far right with her sister next to her. On the far left Vladimir was sitting back with his legs on the table, looking extremely uninterested. On the right side of him Stefan was watching us quietly. In the middle of the front of them, inside a small metal cage was a girl who was only about a year older than Bella and Dol, she had short black hair and copper skin so covered in scars and cuts Dol would’ve probably been sick if she hadn’t been prepared.

This wasn’t the first time she’d seen Leah in her human form since Kachiri’s death, she’d seen a lot of those wounds made. She’d watched them torture her and realized how much worse things might have gotten for Bella if Kachiri had continued.

Lining the outside of the room were several stands, on the right side there were around thirteen vampires piled in the stands.

“The vampires on the right are the Dari.” Edward mumbled so quiet Dol almost didn’t catch the words. Dol looked at the left side, there were five vampires in this area, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle, and a blonde haired vampire she had never met but by the way Alice was clinging to him Dol had to assume it was her mate. Dol looked forward again and noticed Maggie standing behind Senna.

“Restrain the human.” Senna spoke, the second Laurent made a move towards him Dol _felt_ it. She had changed into her spectral form and flown behind her, through Mike, and taken solid form just in time to hit Laurent.

She was fueled by her need to protect her Imprintee, it made her stronger than the average shifter in human form. She had to be, she couldn’t do too much in her Spectral form so she was more resilient in human.

Edward grabbed Dol and pulled her off before she could grab Laurent’s head, a growl tore through her, not human at all, it sounded like that of a wild animal.

Edward wrapped his arms around her and hissed in her ear, “if you don’t calm down there will be serious problems.” Dol growled again, a lot calmer than the last one. She took a deep breath and let it out, looking towards the front of the room, straight at the two girls.

“No one will lay a hand on him without his or my permission. Do whatever the Hell you want to me but not one finger on him, I will kill anyone who tries to do otherwise. I don’t care if you send the entire city after him. Not. One. Finger.”

Zafrina made a move to stand but Stefan spoke before she could do or say anything. “Do not touch the human. We have more important matters at hand.”

Dol could feel the two glaring at me from their seats but they didn’t say anything more on the subject. Dol noticed out of the corner of her eye that Laurent had joined the right stands, so the door opener was a _Dari_? At least he was a familiar face, though she had just attacked him…Dol prayed to whatever god or whatever that he didn’t hold that against her.

They began forward again, stopping a few feet behind Leah’s cage. She was curled in a ball at the bottom of the cage, shaking slightly. Considering the fact they’d had the decency to clothe her before the trial Dol was pretty sure it was fear that was making her shake.

“I must ask, why isn’t Carlisle among the _Dari_?” I heard him growl lowly, clearly whatever thought had gone through someone’s head hadn’t been good. “It has been proven that Carlisle is not responsible for the venom that was put in his blood.”

“Unless you’d like to point us in the direction of the guilty party he is not allowed to act as _Dari_ in this trial.” Senna growled the words, glaring at me. I was happy looks couldn’t kill.

“As Maggie has confirmed I don’t know who put the venom in that blood. In fact, from the investigation that was done immediately following Isabella’s transformation all the creatures that have closely interacted with her since her arrival are innocent.” Edward’s voice was full of hostility.

“How about you, Daula?” Dol tensed when her real name was used, so Kachiri had shared the information with the other two.

“What about me?” Dol asked, struggling not to snap at her, she needed to pull herself together.

“Do you know how that venom ended up in Carlisle’s blood?”

“How the Hell would I know? I was being controlled by Kachiri.” She managed to say that calmly, just barely.

“Answer the question, Dol.”

“I have absolutely no idea how it ended up there.”

“Truth.” Maggie said quietly.

“Now that we have this established, I believe we are gathered to decide the guilt of the shapeshifter in this cage.” Stefan spoke; it was obvious he was bored of the conversation.

“She killed Kachiri. I don’t know why we are here for a trial.” Zafrina growled.

“We are here for a trial because there are two witnesses to what happened.”

“A shapeshifter that isn’t legally here and a vampire who is infatuated with the human who was being tortured by Kachiri before her death, explain to me how they are good witnesses?”

“They are good witnesses because they were present for the events that led to the death of your friend.” Stefan

“She was our sister.” They growled at the same time.

“If you are emotionally unfit for this trial we can continue without you.” They growled but said nothing more.

“Now, time for a proper trial. Dol Uley and Edward Masen, you have been brought before the counsel as a witness. Please note that any lies told will be immediately caught and questioned. Do you understand?” Stefan leaned back as he spoke.

“Yes.” We both said at the same time.

“Good. Edward, we will question you first. The questions will be kept simple and we expect the answers to be kept simple as well. Step forward.” Dol watched Edward move forward.

“First question. Were you present at the time of Kachiri’s death?” Stefan began the questioning.

“Yes.”

“Did you watch her die?”

“I did not.”

“Do you know how she died?”

“Leah attacked and killed her.”

“Do you know why?”

“I would have to imagine that with Kachiri’s ability out of commission she took the chance as a way to free herself completely and save Isabella from what was planned for her.”

“How could Leah know what was planned?”

“Because she was bragging about it before they entered The White Room.”

Senna spoke up, interrupting the conversation. “Did Leah have to kill Kachiri?”

“Ask that question differently.” Edward’s stance became slightly more defensive.

“Answer the question.”

“You said you want simple answers. I cannot answer that question simply.”

“Find a way to answer the question simply.”

Edward growled quietly before speaking. “In order to free herself and Dol from the influence of Kachiri’s power she had to kill Kachiri.”

“She was not in direct danger from Kachiri though?”

“No.” Edward growled out.

“That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

“Fuck you.”

“Do you have any more questions for him, Stefan?”

“I do not.” Stefan spoke quietly; Dol could feel his eyes on her.

“Then I believe it is time for us to question you, Ms. Uley. If you would step forward. Edward, join the onlookers.” Edward glanced over his shoulder at Dol before he turned and walked at a very human pace to the stands. Dol took a step forward, and let out a low breath, her eyes moving to watch Senna. Mike stayed directly behind her, she could feel him. It was comforting to have him there, knowing she would be able to protect him should it need be.

“As I told Edward, you will receive simple questions, we expect simple answers. Understood?” Dol nodded to Stefan’s question though she didn’t let her gaze leave Senna.

“Were you present at the time of Kachiri’s death?” Stefan spoke, what followed was something that hadn’t been anticipated.

“I was.”

“Did you watch her die?”

“No.”

“Do you know how she was killed?”

“I heard the sound of vampire skin cracking but I do not know exactly how she died.”

“What do you believe happened?”

“When Kachiri lost her hold over myself and Leah, she took the opportunity to free herself completely. She did what I would’ve done if Bella hadn’t been-“

“Simple answers.” Senna growled, clearly not wanting the others to hear the full story.

“Fine. I believe that when she got the opportunity to break free of the control forced upon her she attacked Kachiri without thought.”

“A moment ago you mentioned the control over yourself and Leah. You are stating Kachiri was controlling your actions?”

“Yes.”

“This question is directly involved in why Leah attacked her. Do not protest it. Leah has stated previously that she did what she did to save Isabella’s life.”

“What is the question?”

“Who was the threat to Bella?”

“Kachiri.”

“That’s a lie.” Maggie spoke and dead silence fell across the room, Dol could faintly see Edward stiffen in the corner of her eye. A lie? Dol wasn’t lying. She couldn’t be…

“I’m not lying. Kachiri was the threat to Bella.”

“That is a lie.” Maggie sounded confused. Dol looked at Maggie who was shaking her head doubtfully.

Dol didn’t like the look Senna gave her when something seemed to occur to her. “Were you the threat to her?”

“What? No!” Dol growled, Mike grabbed her arm, silently begging her not to do something stupid.

“That…that’s a lie…” Maggie spoke with disbelief.

Dol was staring at Senna with pure hatred, what was happening? “Dol, don’t say anything else.” She hadn’t noticed Edward appearing to her right.

 _How am I lying? Edward, how the Hell did she read that I was lying?_ Dol moved her arm out of Mike’s grip and backed into him, leaning back into him, using his presence to control herself. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him.

 _Breathe._ She told herself.

“I believe there is a conflict here. Maggie’s gift works as to what the body believes, Kachiri had control over Dol’s body and while Dol’s mind knows who was the true threat her body does not.” Maggie looked at Edward, annoyance clear.

“This is not your place, Edward.” Senna growled.

“You’re right. It’s not. But I’m the only one who has the balls to speak up. You have been doing exactly what I have seen you and your sisters do since I began residing in your court. Leading any witness who comes into play into guilt.”

“Why have you chosen to interfere now, Edward? If we’re guilty of what you say we are what has made you choose to interfere?”

“You are leading Dol into guilt, without Dol Isabella will probably never wake up. I need Isabella to wake up.”

“Because you’re in love with her?” Senna rolled her eyes.

“No. Not because I’m in love with her. I’m not an ignorant child, I don’t believe in that love at first sight shit.”

“Why do you _“need”_ Isabella to wake up then, Edward. Please. Humor us.”

“The same exact reason I pushed to have her as my own when I first saw her. Except for the blood.”

“Oh yes, I forget, you have an unhealthy obsession with brown haired brown eyed women. Please explain to us why this is important for us to know.”

“Because my unhealthy obsession is well known through the city. Every one of us knows I would do anything to get my hands on her. Even risk my life by exposing the corruption in the Amoz court. You have been attempting to lead the witnesses in the court to their guilt so that you can avenge the death of Kachiri.”

“That is the truth.”

“You’re lying.” Senna growled.

“She’s lying.” Maggie spoke quietly.

“Maggie.” Senna growled, the girl moved away from the two of them and took her place behind the Romaz.

“I have kept quiet for a very long while, allowed you to manipulate innocent people. I cannot do that anymore. Leah deserves a fair trial as so many others before her have. I am sorry but I cannot follow any longer.” She looked at Leah who hadn’t moved once before the trial began.

“May I ask her some questions, Stefan?”

“Zafrina, are you and your sister going to cause more problems?” He looked at the two women, Senna glared at him but said nothing.

“We will allow this trial to end.”

“After this trial you and your sister are to leave the city. I do not wish to put you on trial but if you do not leave after the evidence presented here today I will be forced to do so.”

“That-“

“I understand, Stefan.” Zafrina interrupted Senna before she could say whatever she had to say.

“Leah?”

The girl in the cage lifted her head slowly, looking at Maggie.

“Did you kill Kachiri?”

She nodded, not speaking, Dol hadn’t heard her speak one word since she’d been human. Dol had to wonder if Leah could speak.

“Did you do it to save Isabella?”

She nodded again.

“Did you have any other choice?”

Leah shook her head.

“Were Kachiri’s plans of torturing Isabella falsely stated?”

Leah nodded.

“There were simple yes or no questions here. I don’t understand why we brought these witnesses before us. It was unnecessary. Honestly, we don’t need the _Dari_ here to give majority to this vote because this trial does not need the _Dari._ This trial could have been done simply under the supervision of either the Romaz or Amoz.”

“So Leah can be released?” Dol asked.

“She can be released.” Stefan said quietly.

Dol went to move for the cage then her world went black.

What the Hell?

Everyone else made sounds of confusion at the same moment.

“Don’t!” Edward and Alice’s voices filled the air at the same moment followed quickly by the sound of cracking bones.

“Leah!” Alice’s voice filled the air.


	29. Twenty-Nine

It had been a day but to Dol it felt like years. Slow motion. Blackness, the sound of bones cracking, and they were gone.

They’d vanished. According to both Alice and Edward it had been a split second decision by Zafrina. There hadn’t been a chance to react.

It didn’t change anything.

It didn’t change the fact that Dol had been trapped.

Zafrina had stolen a needle off one of the vampires and injected her with SH.

Dol couldn’t save her.

She couldn’t try.

Leah was dead.

Bella was lost.

Dol was scared.

She couldn’t change yet.

She had slept with Mike; three times.

She was drinking.

She felt like shit.

She was going to Hell.

“Dol?” Mike shook her gently and she groaned, pulling the blanket over her head when someone else turned the light on. She hadn’t been asleep; she’d been lying in her bed drowning in her sorrows, curled up with a bottle of whisky.

“Go away.”

“They’re going to bury her.” He pulled the blanket off her head and she blinked rapidly, pushing the fog out of her vision.

“No.” She mumbled as he grabbed her arm.

“I need your help. I need you to focus, Dol. I need you to wake up.” She groaned as the bond between them forced her mind to focus. _I don’t want to be sober._ She went to pull the lid off the bottle but it was snatched away before she could.

“Dol.” She looked up to see who had stolen her drink and was met with violet blue eyes. At first her voice hadn’t really registered in Dol’s brain but now it was clear.

“Go away, Rosalie.”

“How many times have you slept with him?” Dol blinked, narrowing her eyes.

“What does that matter?”

“He didn’t do it for himself, he’s engaged to Jessica. He did it because he cares about you. If you weren’t so lost in the fucking alcohol you’ve been having Alice bring down you’d see how much harm you’re causing. I get it, I really do. You didn’t get to save Leah, you can’t sneak around the city because you are still trapped in your human form. Dol, a few weeks ago you were completely trapped in Bella’s mind. You had no one but her.”

“Exactly the issue. I had no one but her! Now I don’t have her.” Dol sat up, glaring at Rosalie.

“You don’t have her but you have us. You have me, Mike, Alice, and Emmett. You somehow have Stefan pulling strings to keep all of us out of trouble for what Kachiri caused.” She laughed without any humor. “Have you even tried to help Bella get out of her head since Leah was killed or have you been so wrapped up in you that you haven’t tried?”

“Do you think I haven’t tried? Do you honestly think that? Twelve hours. While the vampires were all out searching for any trace of Zafrina and Senna I was begging Bella’s mind to let me in, I begged her mentally and verbally. Twelve hours I tried.” Tears filled her eyes as she spoke, hostility in her voice. “I know that everyone thinks I’ve been completely out of commission since she died, the truth is, I can’t be out of it. Apparently my DNA won’t let me, notice the bottles behind me, those are from this afternoon or whatever this is. I shouldn’t be coherent but here I am; talking to you like it’s any other day.”

“You need to get rid of the alcohol, you need to stop drowning in your sorrows, and you need to realize you’re hurting more than just yourself by doing this.” She shook her head and headed for the door. “Your DNA should have sent your head to the front when you slept with him. Which means one of two things. Either Mike was completely alright with cheating on Jessica or you ignored your instincts. I’m going to assume it was the one that makes you selfish. I could be wrong.” She turned to face Dol, standing in the doorframe. “Get off your ass and come say goodbye to the girl that saved your sister’s life.” She left the doorway and slammed the door behind her; Dol could hear the faint sound of the wood cracking.

“I’m sorry.” Dol mumbled, not looking at Mike.

“You aren’t.” She rolled over looked at him, surprised by his tone. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed, watching her with a wary expression. “I know you aren’t sorry, Dol. I have realized something though. This…thing, this bond, Imprint, or whatever it is. You may not have noticed it but I have, your…connection to me, it’s either faint or gone. Your DNA may be sobering you up and making you protect me but, Dol, I think when Bella blocked you out of her head it broke your soul.”

Dol considered his words, she had been going through the motions, and she knew how some humans coped with grief so she’d done it. Not the positive ways, she’d sunk low and the more she thought about it now the more she realized how little she cared. The part of her that cared was like a drop of blood in a pool of water, so distant that she wondered if she could ever draw it out again.

“We need to go to Leah’s funeral, Dol.”

“You’re right, Mike. No more alcohol, no more sex. I know using you like that was wrong.”

“I want to return to the surface.” She looked at him, that drop was screaming at her to tell him no.

She nodded. “Okay.”

“You got into Bella’s head before by not being forceful. Have you tried that?” He asked, standing and heading to the door.

“I have tried to get into her head.”

“Try asking.” He stated, pushing the door open and stepping into the hall. “Before you do though, come say goodbye to Leah. She died because she saved your sister’s life.” He closed the door leaving Dol alone.

Alone.

Dol was alone.

Bella was gone.

Mike was gone.

Her soul was cracked.

She needed to try.

First she owed it to Leah.

She would go to the funeral.

 

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The funeral was small. Dol was aware the shapeshifters were less than humans here but the knowledge that when a shapeshifter died it meant nothing gnawed at her basic instincts. The same feeling that had hit her when she’d seen the shifters in the dungeon. Dol acknowledged this fact but she didn’t care.

They were on the surface, in a small field behind Emily’s Diner. There was a hole in the ground where Leah’s body, wrapped in a golden blanket, lay. On the side of the whole was a large pile of dirt with two shovels in it. Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, Dol, Mike, Jessica, Alice, her mate –who Dol had learned recently was named Jasper-, Emily, and Stefan were all gathered around it, none of them speaking. Jessica was clinging to Mike shooting daggers with her eyes at Dol.

Dol tried to care but now that it had been brought to her attention she couldn’t. Edward’s eyes shot up to her when he caught onto her inner thoughts.

_Don’t bring it up to them, not right now. It’s wrong to do that._

He gave her a look that said something along “it’s wrong for you to be here if you’re thinking like that.”

_I get it but I have to be here. For Bella._

He shook his head slightly and looked back at Leah. The group was silent, they stood there for a while without speaking. It seemed to stretch on for years before Rosalie finally spoke.

“I didn’t know her, at all.” She spoke softly. “I only saw her as a shapeshifter that followed Kachiri around and never made a move to ask about her. I regret it. She did something good and didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

Emmett touched her shoulder and she nodded slowly. “I knew her.” He spoke quietly. “I raised her from a very young age.” Dol would have asked questions about that but she knew it was the wrong place. “I watched her grow up, I kept her on a drug that kept her human.

 _“_ _I’m sure you can understand doing necessary things.”_ Dol remembered Kachiri saying that to Emmett before everything had gone terribly wrong.

“When Kachiri approached me and told me I had to choose between being kicked from the city or giving up the girl I’d raised I was put in a bad position. Kachiri had told me she had no intensions of doing harm to her. After a lot of time I agreed. I will never forgive myself for it and I will never be able to apologize to her face. I’m sorry, Leah. I’m sorry that I raised you in the city, I’m sorry I let Kachiri take you. I’m sorry she used you to torture other shapeshifters. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you.”

He’d raised Leah?

Rosalie wrapped her arm around his back and leaned on him, it bothered Dol, reminded her how alone she was. She touched her bond with Bella, she did care when it came to Bella.

“May I?” Dol spoke softly, when no one objected she took a breath and began. “I didn’t know Leah. I encountered her a couple times and what she did -even if it had been for herself- saved Bella’s life. I will never be able to thank her for what she did. I respect her for what she went through from Kachiri and I can’t imagine what it was like for her.”

Dol closed her eyes and touched the connection again, wishing Bella was here. “I know Bella is gone, lost in her head.” She shot an accusing glare at Edward when she said that. “I want to thank you, Leah, from Bella. Thank you, Leah.” She let out a small breath. “I would have saved you.” She hadn’t realized she’d said that until the hostile glare from Rosalie hit her.

“I heard her thoughts.” Edward spoke up, he didn’t look at them. “She’d never spoken words, not in her entire life. She never found them necessary so in her final moments, she showed me what she wanted to be shared. I saw a lot of things. Her childhood, she showed me how good you were to her, Emmett. She didn’t show me Kachiri, the things done to her after that. She showed me the man who raised her. I don’t think she would’ve had it any other way.” He looked at Dol. “She also showed me you and Bella, she showed me times she’d seen you together, none of the other times.” He looked at the ground. “I have never seen a happier mind. Even when she was under the influence of Kachiri, she almost never thought about it, except when it was necessary.”

There wasn’t much left to say so the group was quiet for a while longer. Emmett was the first to make a move; he stepped forward and picked up one of the shovels, silently shoveling the dirt into the hole.

No one spoke as he did this. The only sound was the wind blowing gently and the humans, and Dol breathing.

“Hold on.” Dol swallowed and stepped to the edge of the grave, she wished that the SH had worn off, she couldn’t do what she wanted. Her instincts told her what she was supposed to do. She was trapped though so instead she slid down into the hole with Leah, someone made a sound of objection but if they moved to stop her she didn’t see it.

She touched the blanket, right over the side of her head, she closed her eyes and sighed softly.

Dol didn’t know what she was doing.

Dol was beyond herself.

Dol was scared.

Dol could feel Leah’s soul.

She hadn’t moved on, Leah was still in there. Her body may have been decaying but Leah’s essence was still there.

She couldn’t be saved.

Why was Dol compelled to be down here with the terrible smell of Leah’s decaying body?

She let her instincts guide her, not knowing what would happen.

Then she felt it.

It wasn’t Leah’s essence.

It was the jaguar that Leah shared a bond with. It was the essence of her jaguar she felt. Dol opened her eyes and watched a yellowish brown essence came floating to the surface of Leah’s body, to the outside of the blanket and slid across it, all of it entering into Dol through the hand that was laying across her head.

Dol was frozen, fear and awe filling her.

What was happening?

When all of the essence had left Leah’s corpse the world began to spin around her, she could feel the jaguar’s essence clawing beneath her skin, wanting freedom from the confines of the human body it had entered. Dol took a deep breath and turned away from Leah’s corpse, above her Edward was standing there, holding a hand out for her.

She could’ve sworn she saw something along the lines of fascination in his expression.

She took his hand and allowed him to pull her out of the hole.

“She’s gone.” She spoke softly, looking at the others. “I absorbed the essence of her jaguar; I don’t know exactly what it means.” She looked at Mike and saw a small smile on his face, he felt it too then. The question was, why?

When Leah’s jaguar essence had entered her she’d felt the connection between them either strengthening or reestablishing.

She felt…good.

 _Dol?_ Both she and Edward froze as the voice entered her head.

_Bella?_


	30. Thirty

I was content with life but something felt horribly wrong. It was like I was missing something or someone.

It was Saturday; we were all in the living room watching a movie. Mike was in a chair at the far corner with Dol curled up in his lap.

Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch watching the movie.

I was sitting on the floor in front of them, Edward sitting next to me. I wrapped my arm around his waist and curled into him, smiling softly.

Things were good.

 _To the left was another vampire who was staring at me, making me uncomfortable. He had a very messy head of bronze hair and emerald green eyes._ I jumped slightly and held onto that, not wanting it to slip away.

I had become aware of this, things that would enter my mind, things that would flash into my mind and then seconds later I wouldn't remember anything about, all that would be left was the knowledge of something being gone.

I noticed Dol looking at me.

"What?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Nothing, you seem…distracted."

"Bella?" I blinked and looked at Edward.

"I'm alright." I mumbled and ran my fingers across my arm, if I thought closely on the action I could feel a light tingling, as if the skin wasn't as smooth as I saw it.

"You aren't. What's wrong?" He reached up and took hold of my arm, stopping me from moving it.

"Something seems…wrong." I mumbled.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, watching my expression closely.

"I get these…flashes…then they vanish but I know they're there." I swallowed and touched my arm.

"Bella." I looked over my shoulder at Dol. "You won't remember this."

I shook my head, narrowing my eyes. "What are you talking about?"

She scrunched her eyebrows, obviously confused. "That's not good." She mumbled and got up, walking out of the room.

"Dol?" I jumped up and followed her out.

"Something bad must be happening." She turned to face me only…it wasn't Dol anymore…I was staring at myself.

"I never thought I'd be put in this position, if you're allowing yourself to remember it means something has gone horribly wrong."

"I…wh…what…" I stared at myself, I should've been scared, I should've been freaking out, instead I was just utterly confused…and interested.

"I don't want to do this to you but if your main consciousness is allowing memories through it must be wanting me to open your mind. It wants you to remember. I will suggest this to you, Bella. Choose to forget, choose to stay in this world; choose not to remember. You'll be happy here."

" _You're her subconscious. You manifested yourself as me because I'm the only person in the world she would ever listen to. If it ever came to this option you knew you'd be able to push her in the right direction."_

 _Dol._ "You're my subconscious?"

"The part of your brain that influences your decisions. When the real Dol busted her way in she assumed I'd taken her form to influence you to leave but it was the exact opposite. I took her form to convince you to stay. As long as you saw me as Dol I would be able to convince you to stay." She hesitated. "You see me as you now, correct?"

I nodded, not sure what to say, it was uncomfortably easy to accept this.

"Then you've already made the choice." The other version of me began to fade, a frown on her face. "Now that your mind is opening, things are going to get strange. You've had memories of the outside world slipping through the cracks for the past four years." She paused. "For you it's been four years. In the real world it has been a few days. Things will be confusing but the more of your memories that bleed through, the easier it will be for you to wake up. I won't be here though, from this point forward I will return to nudging you quietly." She hesitated, "if you want to open your mind, meditating might bring forward memories that you need to wake up. When you do wake up you will be disoriented, your throat will be on fire, and you will hurt. Don't let yourself fall back in your mind again, if you do nothing will be able to pull you back." Then the other version of me was gone and I was confused.

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

I returned to the living room and things there were as if nothing had happened, even "Dol" was there.

I'd decided to tell them I was tired and said "goodbye" to Edward before I had headed to my room. Edward either would've gone home or joined in my room later, I didn't know what would happen tonight and I didn't care.

When I was in my room I sat down on my bed and turned away from the door, sitting criss cross and laying my hands on my knees.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, clearing my head. I wanted to try and make myself think about what I wanted but I was pretty sure that wouldn't help the situation.

How does one clear their mind?

Ugh. This was harder than I thought it would be.

Someone knocked on the door and I groaned. "Yes?"

"Can I come in?" I hesitated, wanting to open my mind and figure out exactly what was happening.

"Yeah." I said, loud enough that he could hear me and opened my eyes.

I listened as the door opened and closed behind him. He sat down in front of me and laid his hand on mine.

"What's wrong, Bella?"

Could I tell him? Would he believe me? If this was all in my head… I thought about that memory that had slipped through earlier…

While I thought about that another memory slipped in my head. _"One more thing, keep her away from Edward. If he sees her he will want her."_ I shook my head, that voice sounded vaguely familiar…

"Bella?"

"Apparently we're in my head." I blurted it out.

He stared at her briefly then nodded. "Okay."

"You know?"

"It doesn't seem impossible."

"None of this is real."

"It doesn't mean it you can't be happy. So what if this isn't real?" He gripped my hand, tracing one of those invisible scars. "It feels real, it seems real."

"What if I wake up?"

"I assume that everyone here, they're people you know."

"Some of my memories are coming through…you…seem…out there I think…you're a bad person…"

"Then how about while we're here, you live life. When you wake up you won't have to worry about loving him."

"What if I want to love him?"

"I guess you'll learn that in the future." He gently pulled me into his lap and stroked my hair. "Do you want to try and recover memories?"

I laid my head on his chest. "I need to." I mumbled and closed my eyes.

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

It had taken weeks; I had started seeing through the cracks, the scars on my arms were clear as day. I'd also started feeling the burn in my throat.

The worst was when I'd started remembering Edward. In reality he was a vampire who had been after me since my arrival. He'd wanted to kill me and drain me dry. He still had dark plans for me.

It hadn't changed anything between Edward and I of this world but I had begun to readopt who I was out there. I had also become exceptionally clingy to this world's Dol, wanting the connection with the one in the real world.

I was beginning to realize my subconscious had let me off so easy because it was going to take a lot of memories to wake me up.

I also realized I didn't want most of these memories. I could understand why I'd buried myself here and each memory made me want to stop searching more and more.

I didn't stop looking though. I kept pulling the memories out and the more I pulled out the more drained I felt.

"Bella?" Edward and I were laying in my bed, curled up facing each other.

"Hm?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah," pause "why?"

"You're crying."

She touched her eyes to feel the tears that had begun streaking down her cheeks. Why was she crying?

" _I want to thank you, Leah, from Bella. Thank you, Leah."_ I shook my head, that was…different. It wasn't like a memory…it was fresh…I grabbed onto that thought with my mind.

Then I felt it; the bond between us. It felt like it was broken into a million pieces. It _hurt_. It was worse than the burning in my throat; it was a pain I'd never be able to describe.

"Bella?"

"I can feel her." I choked the words out. "Oh, God the connection between us…it's so broken…it hurts so much…I…I need to go…I need to…"

"Bella." He whispered and I looked at him. "I love you." He kissed me; it had taken two years for my mind to conjure up Edward as a love interest. He'd started as a friend. I knew I would struggle with the Edward in the real world after this. The one in the real world was a threat to me. He'd made it painfully obvious. I was actually thankful I was a vampire at this point.

We kissed for a while before the connection reminded me of what was happening. I needed to wake up and if I stayed longer it would be harder to leave.

"I love you too, Edward. I'm sorry I can't stay."

"When you get out there, make sure you kick my ass." He chuckled softly and kissed my shoulder.

"Will do."

It was weird; the first thing that happened was the world around me began to cloud. I left that place and _knew_ what was happening. I was back in my head. I could feel the familiar walls I'd built when I buried myself, I actually remembered burying herself now.

"Hello, Bells." I turned around suddenly to face myself, it was a bad sign when seeing yourself became normal.

"Hello, Me." I mumbled.

"I'm just another part of your brain, you can either choose to let me in or you can leave without me. I'm the holder of the memories of what happened while you were trapped in the back of our brain. I don't recommend remembering, but if you ever want to, I will be around. You need to go out now though, take control again. Don't kill anyone. Whatever you do, don't kill anyone."

The other me vanished and I hesitantly slid out of my mind, taking control of my body again.

It was disorienting to say the least. I was in control of my body again but everything felt so wrong. Everything was so much more substantial. In my mind I'd been solid but it wasn't like a normal body. I had been light as air, it hadn't really occurred to me in there because it didn't matter.

Now that I was in my own body, it was a strange experience, like being born again. My body was heavy which was weird considering I was a vampire. Every inch of me tingled. Then it hit me.

The smell of blood, the beating of a heart, instincts kicked in and I was on my feet and out the door of the room I was in. The human wasn't far, maybe a few feet. It hadn't mattered. One movement and I was on them. I bit into their throat, feeling the wonderful feeling of liquid touching my tongue and sliding down my throat. I hadn't thought, I'd just acted.

Then I'd drained the human and I realized what horrible thing I had done.

I'd killed a human.

I did the only thing I could do. _Dol._

_Bella?_


	31. Thirty-One

It was weird to say the least, the feelings that radiated through me at the sound of my sister’s voice. It wasn’t like the dream version of her I had conjured up. This was different. Nothing could instill the feeling that her real voice filled me with. There was comfort, joy, excitement, pain, love, fear, and a hundred other things.

I forgot about the dead body, I forgot about the remaining burn, I forgot about everything. I held onto that one word for what felt like years.

 _You’re still there, right? I’m on my way. Don’t go again._ Her mental voice was frantic and knocked me out of my daze.

_Oh, God…Dol…I…killed someone…_

I looked at the scene around me, taking it in. I was in a familiar section of the city, close to where Emmett’s room was. The body that was on the floor in front of me was a young girl, no older than fifteen. It tore me apart, I’d killed her. She was so young. I backed up to the wall and laid my head back on it, closing my eyes.

I wanted to cry but no tears would fall. I needed to hold myself, no burying, calm down.

 _Bella. Listen to me. It isn’t your fault. Don’t you dare fall back under._ I could feel the fear in her mental voice.

 _I will try not to, Dol. I won’t promise though._ I knew I couldn’t promise that, I wanted to crawl back into the world I’d created. I had my parents, I had Dol…

 _Edward._ I bit down on the inside of my lip. It was going to bother me, I knew the difference between the Edward in my head and the one in this world. I wasn’t stupid. I ran through the memories of our time together in my head.

 _Are you kidding me, Bella?_ Dol’s voice was stunned.

 _Get out of my head._ I growled.

 _Not mad, just…surprised. Just so we have it clear, beware of the one out here. Dammit, Edward get out of my head._ So Edward was with her, wonderful.

I felt her before I saw her, I looked up to the right and saw them turn the corner.

Dol looked like crap; there were no words to describe the pain that hit me at the sight of her.

She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, her hair was knotted up, her dress was knotted and dirty. Her eyes had dark circles under them, her face was sunken in.

 _I look like shit._ Dol’s thought was full of shock and made Bella want to laugh if the situation wasn’t bad.

Edward, Alice, and Stefan came up behind her. I tensed at the sight of Edward. I did not like that he was standing there, I did not like the way he was looking at me, and I did not like the smug smile on his face.

“Hello, Isabella.” I moved my gaze to Stefan. “I am aware that it’s bothering you. That you killed her.” He hesitated.

“It bothers me but…” I swallowed. “Not as much as it should. I know this kind of stuff happens all the time…it’s different because I was the one who dealt the killing blow…but…it could’ve been anyone.” I wasn’t lying, as much as it bothered me it could’ve been anyone that killed her. “I need some time with Dol.” I looked at her, my eyes narrowed.

“ _What_?”

“Have you eaten anything since all this happened?”

She didn’t answer me, Edward did the kind favor of inputting his thoughts. “If you count drowning in alcohol as eating then she’s been gorging herself.”

Dol growled at him, actually growled. There was a faint familiarity of it. “Get out of my head, Edward. Now.”

“Careful, mutt. Don’t forget where you stand right now.” Dol was shaking, visibly shaking, I could feel the pain she was in, something was wrong.

 _God dammit!_ That was the first thought I heard when I went into Dol’s mind, I could feel her skin burning, something underneath it trying to tear its way out.

_Dol, what the He-_

She took a heavy breath and focused on a memory, the memory felt old, extremely old, it had to have been. It was weird to see, everything was colorless. We were sitting on a bed watching a young vampire…a familiar one…Alec. He was lying in a bed in a room very similar to the one that had been Bella’s in Volterra. He was reading a book; I could feel the happiness in this memory, the longing.

I jumped out of her head, staring at her as she relaxed and stopped shaking. In the time I was in her head someone had taken the human’s body, Stefan was gone but something told me he hadn’t been the one to get it.

Alec.

Dol used to spy on Alec.

I didn’t know how I felt about that.

Dol looked at me, pain in her expression. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Let’s go shower then we’ll talk.” I mumbled, ignoring the way Edward was staring at me.

 

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We were clean, Dol was wearing a dark light blue dress with black stripes that Alice had apparently bought for me. It was too big for Dol, hanging around her awkwardly. I on the other hand had changed into a pair of black jeans and red long sleeved shirt. I didn’t want to show any more of my skin than I had to, not with the scars that were clear as day on my otherwise flawless skin.

It hurt, the memories hurt. Even though I had managed to barricade those memories behind some wall in my mind, it didn’t change the fact that they liked falling through the wall, presenting themselves front and center. Apparently the most secure wall I’d built was the one that I’d lived in, I still hadn’t taken the memories of my unconscious state, I didn’t know if I wanted to know what had happened to my body while I was in my head.

We were sitting in what Dol called “her room” on “her bed”. “Okay.” Dol swallowed and let out a deep breath. “A lot has happened since you lost your head.” I narrowed my eyes but didn’t comment on her use of words. “I don’t want you to fall under again. I don’t want you to hide away. If I tell you what all has happened you can’t run.”

“I will try not to fall back. I can’t promise, Dol.”

She grabbed my hand and sighed. “Bella. God, I haven’t forgiven myself for what happened. I’ve seen what happened through your eyes and felt what you felt. We can’t do this though. We can’t keep self-destructing.”

“I know.” I mumbled, looking down at our hands.

“I’m going to tell you what happened, stay with me, okay?” I swallowed and nodded.

So she began the story, I listened to what she told me, not interrupting what she had to say. Leah was gone. Her death would be avenged though. That was a promise.

I did struggle; the more I learned about everything the more I wanted to crawl back into my head. _God, reality sucks._

I was pissed at Dol. I really was. She had driven away her Imprintee, I could feel how much it hurt her now that she was looking back on it. It was tearing her apart.

After she finished the story there was silence for a while; I didn’t want to talk. We were laying in the bed side by side now, her hand lying across mine. It was helping. _What was that memory, Dol?_

 _What do you mean?_ Telepathic conversations were much easier. Didn’t require trying to figure out what to say, just thinking and letting it take its course.

I flashed her memories of what I’d seen in her head.

I could practically see her gnawing on her lip, I could feel the anxiety and stress in her. _When we were together in Volterra…Bella try not to hate me for this…_

_Why would I hate you?_

_Because what I did was the absolute single most selfish thing I’ve ever done. It’s something you will never be able to forgive me for. It was something I never should have ever done. It’s something that will haunt me until I die._

_Just tell me, Dol._ The way she spoke had me on edge, scared. We had both done a lot of shit, the way she was talking…something bad had to have happened.

“I was infatuated with Alec.” Her voice was quiet and startled me. Things were easier in our head, she must’ve been really thinking on how to say this for her to use her voice. “I would spy on him while you slept, it was an unhealthy obsession. You began asking questions and…I started lying to you.” I tensed at this; she had been vague in answers before. I was pretty sure she’d never straight up lied to me. Why would she lie? “I snuck around and learned to change into my solid form for an hour at a time. It would drain all of my energy back then. I don’t know why. I didn’t tell you about this though. Instead I started spending time with Alec.” I could hear the reluctance in her voice. “At first it was just me spending time around him, never showing myself out of fear. I think…I think he sensed my presence though. All the vampires in Volterra knew I was attached to you so it wasn’t surprising when he pieced it together. One night he asked me if I could show myself.”

Then I was in that memory from earlier; seeing it from an outside perspective.

 

_He set the book down and looked around the room. “I can sense you here. You’re the…thing that follows Isabella around, right? Can I see you?”_

_Dol hesitated -it was there- the knowledge of how to change forms. She knew if she became solid it wouldn’t be possible to flee from the room. Could she die? Was she something real? After a lot of internal debate the decision was made and she focused on a memory,_ in this memory it wasn’t possible for me to see the memory that was used. God, it was hurting my brain.

_She felt herself becoming solid, real. Alec gaped at her as her form became visible. The vampire didn’t speak a word, staring at the girl in front of him._

_“Hello, Alec.”_ _Those were the first words she’d ever spoken out loud, she’d planned on saving them for Bella._ For me. She’d wanted to speak her first words to me.

_“This is definitely something I never thought I’d do. How long have you been here?”_

_“I don’t want to talk about it.”_

_“Have you been spying on me?”_

_Dol blushed at his words, something she’d never before experienced._

_“I will take that as a definite yes.” He sniffed the air and stiffened slightly. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been around someone off SH. You smell like dinner, Blue.”_

_“Blue?”_

_“It’s a good name for you. Blue hair and all.”_

_“I have a name you asshole.”_

_“I don’t care. Your name is Blue.”_

_“I am not an animal.”_

_“How often do you spy on me, Blue?” Dol growled softly, not the animal one she had developed recently, this was a human growl that made Alec laugh. “Oh, relax. I don’t mind. It’s been a very long time since I thought about having any sense of privacy.” Dol said nothing to this. “Why are you here, Blue?”_

_“I don’t know.”_

_“You have to have a reason.” Dol tensed, she hadn’t wanted him to interrogate her._

_“Do I have to say why?”_

_“It would be nice to know why the delusion of Aro’s prized possession is sitting in my room.”_

_“If you are looking at me is she really delusional?”_

_Alec chuckled at that. “You have a solid point. I would like to offer you something. I’ve heard whispers around the castle, I was going to take them directly to Isabella but I think it would be better for me if you carried them to her.”_

_“What do you want to tell her?”_

_“Aro is considering starting to use her as a Bloodbag. It may start when she is sixteen or it may start in the next couple weeks. The point is it may happen.” He watched Dol who was running through that in her head._

_“What good does it do for us to know this?”_

_“I’m offering something I never should. A ticket out. Most of the guard will be gone next Wednesday, they’ll be dealing with an Immortal Child. We will be gone.”_

_“Why are you telling me this?”_

_“I owe Marcus a favor.”_

_“What if I want to stay with you?”_

_“You don’t know me, Blue. Why would you want to stay with me?”_

_“I want to know you.”_

_“I don’t know if you can stay. I don’t know how your thing with her works.”_

_Dol took a deep breath. “If I stay, will you let me get to know you?”_

_“You are offering to let Isabella stay here, suffering, for however long she lives, just so you can get to know me?”_

_Dol swallowed and nodded. “I am.”_

 

I fell back, reality weighed so much. _Oh, God. All those years…all that time…_ I scrambled out of the bed. My eyes were burning with tears I couldn’t shed. I didn’t look at her as I bolted out of the room.

She’d trapped me down there.

She’d had the choice to free me.

She hadn’t done it though.

She’d let me suffer in that God forsaken city for around four years…

She’d had the option to free me and hadn’t.

“God dammit!” I punched a wall. “Dammit, Dol!” I didn’t retreat into my mind, I was pissed.

“Bella?” I turned and hissed at Rosalie, anger burning through me. “She told you about Alec’s offer?”

I narrowed my eyes, growling. “You knew?”

“Of course I know. Marcus was very open with me. He told me a lot about the escape you had planned. What Dol did.”

“You’ve known all this time?”

“It wasn’t my place. I also sort of owe the fix of Emmett and I’s relationship to Dol. She pushed you to confront us. I almost told you about it after she brought me back but I guess I owe my life to her.” I growled at her but I could feel my anger sinking away. God this sucks. I pushed the thoughts of what Dol had told me to the back of my brain. It hurt though. She’d had a ticket out and she’d chosen a boy who had only just learned she existed over me.

“I’m not saying you should forgive her but I was in that position. I was around fourteen years old and obsessed with someone who didn’t know I existed. I would’ve done anything to stay with him.” I didn’t look at her.

“It’s just…God I suffered for _years_. I don’t remember it all. Clearly Dol didn’t get to spend those four years with Alec either. So what was the reason?”

I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning back against the wall I had punched.

“Maybe there wasn’t a reason.”

“So I suffered for nothing?”

“You can’t blame her. Whatever it was that drove her out of existence, I can promise you it hadn’t been planned. Dol is selfish; it’s part of her, part of both of you. You can’t blame her for doing what she did. You can be mad, you can be hurt, but you can’t blame her for it.” I sighed; I knew what she was saying. The problem was it hurt. I wished Dol hadn’t told me.

 _Ignorance is bliss._ Dol’s voice filled my head, pain in it.

 _Get out of my head._ I didn’t mean it, I didn’t care that she was nosing around. I was just tired.

 _If I could take it back I would._ Her voice was quiet.

 _I know you would._ I sighed. _I can’t forgive you though. Not yet._

_I understand. I have to go up to the surface. Will you be safe down here?_

_What kind of question is that?_

_Avoid Edward, Bella._

I felt her leave my mind.


	32. Thirty-Two

I wasn’t allowed to leave the city because according to Stefan I was a flight risk. He was right, I was ready to bolt from the city and never turn back. I felt like I was back in Volterra, the only difference was I had less freedoms. I had been told I couldn’t leave my room without supervision.

That was why we were here. Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and I were all piled in my room, planning on how to get all the shapeshifters and humans out of the city without nearly as many casualties as last time.

“Last time we lost our element of surprise.” Rose mumbled as she paced, she had finally gone back to her middle state; the scent of her blood was slightly distracting.

“Bella?” I blinked, looking at Alice who was watching me warily. “You alright?”

“Explain again to me why you can’t do the whole human blood make you vamp thing?”

“Because I’m a selfish bitch and I don’t want Emmett feeding on anyone else. Do your whole bury the hunger trick, Bella. I am already drained enough as is.” Rose sighed and dropped down in one of the chairs.

“The bury the hunger trick isn’t one hundred percent.” I growled, narrowing my eyes at her.

“Bella.” Emmett growled and I looked at him.

“Anyways.” Alice spoke up, interrupting the conversation. “My Bag, she works in the kitchen. I can probably get her to draw in some of the less brainwashed humans.”

“If we can get the humans in there we might be able to remove the SH from the shifter’s meals we could have a huge advantage we didn’t last time.” Rose grinned, clearly excited by the prospect.

“That’s assuming we can get down there and let them know not to shift; at all.” I added, shaking my head.

“Dol could do that.” Rose said absentmindedly earning an annoyed growl from me.

“If she could shift that’d be perfect.” I groaned and got up off the bed. “I would kill to know who changed me.”

“Are you still complaining?” I could feel Rose glaring at me.

“Of course I’m complaining. This is bullshit. I’m trapped in this God forsaken city because someone did something to me, something I’d rather have died than had happen.”

“If you’d like to die so much why don’t you just do something stupid enough to warrant an execution?” Rose stood from where she was and walked over to me, grabbing my arm. “Bella.” I looked at her, not daring to breathe because my God her scent was the most amazing thing in the world. “You and Dol are two of the most selfish pitiful people I’ve ever met. The world does _not_ revolve around you. If you want it to end why not fall back into Bella’s Perfect World with Bella’s Perfect Edward and let us do our thing without you.” I growled and grabbed her by her neck, “Emmett, don’t.” She choked out; I could feel the others in the room ready to intervene. I had no intention of killing her though. I loosened my grip allowing her to take a breath. “I’m sorry that Dol betrayed you when you were _fourteen._ I’m sorry you got tortured and someone _saved your life._ ”

“Are you really criticizing me for complaining about having my life saved?” I let go of her, bruises appearing on her neck in the perfect shape of my hand.

“I am a hypocrite but I don’t really care. Get over it. You’re a vampire. You want to drain me dry. You are on the edge of falling back into the back of your mind. Don’t take the coward’s way out. Move on from the situation.”

 _Bella?_ Dol’s voice hadn’t entered my mind at all today, apparently her and Jessica had settled their differences and -after she got the crap beat out of her by Jessica- things were fine between them. She was playing guard dog outside their house, not the most literal guard dog seeing as she had been trapped in her human form since the SH injection, no one was sure why since the average shapeshifter flushed it out of their system in the first day.

_What?_

_I have been meditating, trying to draw forward memories. I got something. Remember when we were interrogated? After Rosalie showed up our memories were gone. We couldn’t remember what happened._

_What about it?_

_I remember._ I could hear the pain in her voice. _The important thing is something Rosalie mentioned. She said there is a shifter hybrid from Volterra. It was a bit confusing. She said he was a human but then said he was part shifter._

_Aren’t shifters born from humans and shifters though?_

_I honestly don’t know. Ask her about it._

I blinked and focused on the room, Rose was now curled on the bed with Emmett, Alice had moved to a chair near the door. I moved and sat on the chair close to my bed, ignoring the glare from Emmett.

“What’d Dol say?” Rose asked, rubbing her neck with annoyance.

“How’d you know it was her?”

“Because that’s the only reason you ever zone out like that.” She rolled her eyes.

“Who here has the ability to wipe minds?”

“No one that I know of. Why?”

“We had it happen after our first encounter with the Amoz.”

She considered. “Kachiri. She had a lot of control over shapeshifters. Enough over Dol’s memories to bring forward things she couldn’t touch herself. If she had the ability to bring them back she might’ve been able to repress them.”

“I’m not a shapeshifter though.”

“You have a very strong connection to Dol. The way she reacted to you locking her out is pretty good proof. With a bond that close it probably allowed her to use her ability on you to an extent.” She paused, realization hit her expression. “You can’t stop asking questions can you, Bella?”

“How can a shifter be part human?”

“He’s not. Edward picked up human from my mind and threw it out there. He is complicated. He was bred by the Volturi, an experiment of sorts.”

“What kind of experiment?”

“I’m not completely sure. I never met him, I just heard briefly about him. I know he is part shifter and that he is extremely loyal to the Volturi.”

“That sounds promising.”

 _Are there any other questions you want to interrupt with?_ Okay, I’ll admit it was a bit rude but I was still mad at her.

 _Sorry to bother you._ Her mental voice was a growl.

“It’s extremely promising.” Rosalie rolled her eyes at me, clearly annoyed. “He isn’t here so it doesn’t matter.”

 _She told the Amoz that they plan on sending him here._ Her mental voice was full of spite.

_Tell you what, Dol. If you want to talk then why don’t you come down here and do it. Stop using me as your messenger bird and come speak your own mind._

_If I come down there I have to leave Mike. That wouldn’t be an issue if I wasn’t_ trapped _in this God forsaken form. I get it. You’re pissed at me, you have every right. The only way you’re getting to the surface is if you can succeed in getting around the entire city._ She paused. _Stay down there and become the same blood sucking thing you have hated since you were ten or help save the humans. At this point I don’t care._

That hurt. I knew she didn’t mean it but it still hurt a lot. I could feel my mind grabbing at me, wanting me to retreat back into the world I’d created. I could practically feel the arms of my mom, dad, and sister around me. God I could see the emerald eyes of Good Edward full of love and adoration looking at me. Just a couple more steps and…

No. _“-Don't let yourself fall back in your mind again, if you do nothing will be able to pull you back._ The memory of what my subconscious told me rang through my head and I groaned. God Dammit.

It was weird, normally if my mind was on any sort of track like this I would’ve had some input from Dol. It was dead silent though, no input from her.

Rose however was in front of me again. “Bella. Don’t you dare.” I blinked several times.

“I won’t.”

“You better not.” She looked up over her shoulder. “I’m hungry so I’m going to head to the Dining Hall. It might do you some good to feed, Bella. Easier to focus.”

“Maybe.” I mumbled, I didn’t like this wedge that was being driven between myself and Dol. It made me feel alone and empty. I knew she was there if I wanted to talk but she wasn’t there completely. She was trapped in her human form.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

Dol was lying outside Mike and Jessica’s house, fear and anger were apparently what cued shapeshifter transformations, why was it that she couldn’t change then? She hadn’t thought anything could be scarier than that SH injection but she had proven herself wrong. She was lying on the ground; her skin felt like it was boiling, under a beautiful waxing moon that she didn’t care enough to enjoy because all she wanted was to be free from her human form.

Dol was terrified of what was happening to her because she had no idea what it was that was happening.

Then Bella was mad at her which made it all worse. Dol wasn’t herself right now. Again she was lost and she couldn’t blame anyone for it.

“Dol?” Mike spoke and her body relaxed, oh the joys of an Imprintee.

“What, Mike?”

“It’s not going to happen if you keep trying to force it.”

“It worked with you.” Dol snapped and instantly regretted the words; Dol got up slowly and walked over to him, hesitantly.

“You didn’t force it.” He shook his head. “I’d be lying if I didn’t at least partially want it and I doubt you would’ve let it happen if it was forced.”

She down at the ground and fidgeted, picking at her nail. He laid a hand on her shoulder. “It won’t ever happen again though. As much as I like you, Mike. I’m your Guardian and nothing more. I was in a bad place and should never have let that happen.”

“You said that you pulled the essence of Leah’s jaguar from her?”

“Yes. It was strange…I felt drawn to it.”

“Maybe it’s the jaguar that’s keeping you in this form?”

“I don’t think so. That wouldn’t make sense.”

“If my life was in immediate danger do you think you’d be able to shift?”

“I don’t want to find that out.”

Dol tensed, something rang through the air that felt _wrong._ Something that shouldn’t be there. Something was…She turned away from Mike and growled lowly. “Go inside. Now.” The jaguar was tearing at her skin again, her spectral half was trying to break out as well. It hurt but that wasn’t what bothered her at the moment. She sensed something in the air; it tore at her basic instincts.

She slipped around to the front of the house and looked down the street to see a large vehicle approaching.

That was it.

The thing that was wrong.

Something inside of it was so very wrong.

A growl rumbled low in Dol’s chest as the vehicle approached, she slipped back behind a tree. She listened to the sound of it moving past her and without thinking she trailed after it, staying to the shadows.

“Dol!” She didn’t look back as Mike tried to call her back.


	33. Thirty-Three

**_Fourteen Years Ago_ **

Bella and Dol, a rare occurrence. Something neither of their parents could have foreseen. Neither of the families had been prepared for what happened and it had taken several years of convincing from Ellen Uley for the Swans to believe what had happened.

Several years and a single visit from Dol’s father. He only stuck around long enough to show the Swans what he was then he’d bailed out on them.

That brought them to this point. Ellen, Renee, Charlie, and Bella were all sitting in their living room. Bella was lying on the floor playing with a small stuffed dog named Frog.

They were trying to teach Dol how to shift. The problem was shifting took a lot of energy that Dol didn’t like to use. She preferred the finer things in life that involved teasing her sister, playing tag, and hide n seek.

On top of all of it, Bella was the only one that could see Dol. It drove Ellen insane because she hadn’t seen her daughter since birth. She just wanted to see her.

“Bells.” Bella looked up at Ellen. “Is Daula in here right now?”

“Nope. She’s in the other room.” Bella went back to playing with Frog, making barking sounds and giggling.

 _“Izzy!”_ Bella looked up as Dol came in, grinning like an idiot. _“I wanna play hide n seek!”_

“But I’m playing with Frog right now, Daula.”

_“Come on, Izzy. Pretty please!”_

“In a little bit.”

“Is Daula in here?” Ellen’s voice was hopeful.

_“I’m in here.”_

Bella nodded absently as she continued playing with Frog.

“Daula, baby girl. Can we try working on you shifting?”

_“I don’t wanna do it right now, El El.”_

Bella picked up Frog and headed for the door.

“Bells, wait!” She turned to her mom’s voice. “Daula.” Bella looked at Dol. “I’m begging you girls. Just a few minutes.”

 _“Then we can play?”_ Dol asked, Bella looked at her mom.

“Can we play after?”

“Of course, baby girl.”

 _“Okay.”_ Dol spoke softly and walked over to the table in the middle of the living area. Bella joined Dol, sitting down by her.

“Is…”

 _“She’s here.”_ Bella had gone through this process before. She didn’t quite understand why they had her tell them where Dol was and what she was saying, she assumed it was a game and never asked about it.

“Okay, Daula. We have told you how you do it. We need you to think about something that made you sad.” Ellen’s voice was sad.

“Why do you want her sad?”

“It’s difficult to explain, baby girl.” Her mom sounded sad too.

 _“If I can do it will it make you happy?”_ Dol asked, looking at Ellen.

“Aunt El, if she does it will it make you happy?”

Ellen’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I would be the happiest person in the world.”

 _“I’ll try.”_ Dol spoke and closed her eyes, a look of concentration filling her expression. Bella got bored watching her sister pretty quickly and got up, walking to the kitchen and climbing a chair –sitting in it- at the counter and pulling a peach out of the fruit bowl. She turned in her chair so she could look in the living room and watched Dol.

Their parents were talking quietly, glancing nervously at where Bella had been with Dol.

Dol finally looked up at Bella. _“I’m bored, Izzy.”_

“We’re gonna go play!” Bella jumped out of the chair and headed for the door, Dol jumping up to follow her. They didn’t notice the pained expression on their parent’s faces.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

The girls were young but they were smarter than most kids their age. It was mostly due to Dol being ever curious, always asking questions, it didn’t mean they didn’t still see the world through a child’s eyes. It just meant they knew more.

Her and Dol walked into the woods behind their house, under normal circumstances it would be an issue for a kid to wander into the woods alone but in this area it wasn’t, the girls had guardians, shapeshifters that protected them.

They arrived in a small clearing and Dol looked around. “Embry!” In a few seconds the two girls were surrounded by five wolves, the one that stood in front of them had gray fur with black spots across him, he lay down in front of the girls, resting his head on his paws, the other wolves circled around them, watching the trees for threats.

“Embry, why did El want her sad?” Bella asked as she stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder.

_Because she’s special, Izzy._

_“That doesn’t make sense.”_ Dol stomped her foot. _“If I’m special why do I have to be sad?”_

 _I can’t explain that right now. You’re too young._ There was a quiet growl from one of the other wolves, Embry lifted his head and looked to his right, rising to his feet. The girls looked around, fear in their eyes.

Embry looked at one of the other wolves then the two girls. An annoyed growl escaped him as he looked back at the wolf. Dol had learned to sneak in on their conversations in the past so that was what she did, sharing the thoughts with Bella was easier than sneaking into their conversations.

 _-need to get them out of here._ Embry’s voice rang through her head.

 _Fear might trigger it, Embry._ One of the other wolves, one that Dol and Bella vaguely knew as Paul responded, a growl erupting from the dark silver wolf to the left of the girls.

_Their parents will kill us._

_If we get her daughter back?_

_No, Paul._ Embry growled with it, lifting his head and standing taller, the girls flinched at the sound, looking between the two wolves. They had seen the wolves bicker before but this one felt different to them. Dol moved so that she was between her sister and the wolves, Bella moving back.

Paul growled at Embry and lifted his head.

 _Don’t you dare, Paul._ Then the lighter wolf lunged through the air at the darker one and the girls screamed.

The fear that surged through Dol was just enough to send her into her skin, it disoriented the young girl but that didn’t matter to her at the moment, her instincts to protect her soul sister causing her to transform for the second time ever. She grabbed Bella and pulled her away from the wolves who were tearing at each other. The wolves rolled across the ground.

 _Paul, back off!_ One of the other wolves ran in front of the girls, getting between the two and the large animals.

Bella was confused and scared and a million other things.

There was the sound of a wolf whining followed by a snarl. _Never do that again, Paul._

 _It worked._ Paul’s mental voice was full of laughter, delirious laughter but laughter all the same. _I fucking told you._

The wolf who had taken his place between the two groups stepped aside as Embry got off of Paul, the two of them were missing patches of fur and bleeding from a couple bite marks. Neither of them seemed overly affected by the wounds, Paul lifted himself up and followed close behind Embry; head dropped low.

 _Daula?_ Embry’s voice was full of awe as he knelt down before the two girls again.

Bella backed away from him, trembling with fear, Dol however stood up to the large wolf, a growl escaping the small girl. It wasn’t an animal growl, it was the same growl you’d hear from a child mocking the growls of animals.

All of the wolves around them had their ears perk at this, Embry tilted his head at the girl and bowed his head slightly.

 _I won’t harm you or your sister._ _I swear to you, Daula._ Then the wolf was on the ground, laying his head to the side.

The small girl looked at all of the wolves then stepped back, grabbing Bella’s arm and helping her up, Bella clung to her sister, staring at the wolves with fear.

 _Go._ Dol looked at Embry then -one by one- the wolves took off into the woods. They wouldn’t wander far; they were supposed to protect the girls. It was their job. Dol didn’t understand what had happened, neither of the two girls did. Things were different for the rest of their family but for them it was the same.

Almost everything was the same for them, except Bella was scared of the wolves now.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

“Izzy, get back here!” Bella squealed and ran down the stairs, holding onto her sister’s necklace for dear life. It had been around a year since the incident with the wolves and the bond between the two girls had increased at an alarming rate.

“You can’t catch me!” Bella giggled and struggled to open the front door before her angry sister could get her hands on it.

“Don’t you dare!” Bella pulled the door open and slipped out of it, she almost was free of the clutches of her sister but was stopped by hands in her hair. She squeaked and fell back, hitting the doorframe.

“Ow!” Bella shouted. “I’m telling Aunt El!” Bella dropped the necklace and glared at her sister.

Dol pulled the door open and stepped in front of her sister, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her tongue out. “You stole my necklace!” Dol knelt down and grabbed the necklace off the ground where Bella had dropped it.

“It’s just a stupid necklace.” Bella mumbled and got up slowly.

“It’s my necklace.”

“Whatever.” Bella stormed back into the house. “Mom! Dol pulled my hair!”

“She stole my necklace!” Dol followed her inside and raced her to Bella’s parent’s room.

They fought over the handle trying to open the door, tugging at each other and until they finally ended up on the floor giggling.

Bella’s mom opened the door and smiled down at the two girls. “Things are settled it seems?”

“If you make us ice cream it will be.” Dol blurted out, sharing a look with her sister full of mischief.

“So you two will stop picking on each other if I make you ice cream?”

“For now.” The girls said at the same time, Renee nodded.

“Then let’s go eat some ice-cream.”

The three headed into the kitchen and the two girls climbed into the chairs, sitting at the counter as they watched Bella’s mom pulled two bowls out of the cabinet and spoons from the drawer.

“Chocolate syrup?” Her mom asked, thoughtfully.

“Yes!” The girls said at the same time.

“When will Aunt El be home?” Bella asked as her mom pulled the ice-cream out of the freezer and began scooping it into the bowls.

“When she gets off work. Embry will be coming by to check on Dol at around six.”

Bella tensed at this, grabbing Dol’s hand under the table. “Does he have to?”

“I know they scared you, Bells. If he didn’t need to be here I wouldn’t let him but he is supposed to check up on Dol.”

“I don’t like the wolves though.” Bella mumbled and looked down as her mom placed the bowls of ice cream in front of them.

“I will never forgive him for letting that happen. How about this, we can go watch a movie and Dol can stay here with Aunt El to meet up with Embry?”

“No.” Both the girls said at the same time, Bella’s hand tightening on her sister’s.

Renee frowned disapprovingly. “It might do you some good to spend some time apart, girls.”

“No.” Dol’s voice held a growl, this growl wasn’t human, at all, it caused Bella’s mom to flinch and Bella to jump.

“Okay.” Renee spoke softly, defeated, and dug through the fridge as the girls dug into their ice cream.

_We’ll be alright, Izzy._

_You won’t let him hurt me, right?_

_Never, Izzy. No one will ever hurt you as long as I’m around._


	34. Thirty-Four

I missed sleeping, sleeping gave me an opportunity to take my mind off things. It didn’t help that I was under house arrest. I was a newborn vampire trapped in a small bedroom on the brink of insanity and I couldn’t sleep. To add to all of that fun Dol was ignoring me. Yeah, what could go wrong?

I lay in my bed and stared at the ceiling, counting every single indention in the stone lined ceiling. It wasn’t fun but it kept my mind off of things.

I tensed when I heard footsteps moving towards my room, it was too early for most people to be wandering the halls and the vampires tended to spend time with the humans or doing their jobs.

“Laurent.” I froze at the sound of Edward’s voice outside my door. “Stefan has requested your presence.” He was quiet for a minute. “What can I possibly do to harm her? She’s not human anymore.”

“You can do a lot of things, Edward.” Laurent’s voice was of annoyance. “I am doubtful that Stefan has even requested my presence.”

“If you wish to displease him be my guest, Laurent. Don’t come crying to me when your head gets detached from your body.” Edward’s voice held annoyance. “Tell you what, if it makes you feel any better I’ll take her to the garden and we can work.” I could practically see him rolling his eyes at that.

 _Dol, I don’t know if you can hear me but I have a bad feeling. Please stop ignoring me; I need to talk to you. I’m begging you._ Nothing, there was absolutely no response. I couldn’t get into her head, I didn’t like being locked out but I’d also earned this. I’d buried myself.

I sat up and looked forward as my door opened. Edward leaned against the doorframe and watched me.

“What do you say we get out of here? Or perhaps you’d like to hang out in your bed and talk about feelings.” He grinned when I growled at that. “Oh come on, Isabella. I saw what Dol saw in your head. She hasn’t quite perfected that mental block.”

“There is a fine line between reality and my fictional life.” I growled lowly.

He pushed off the doorframe and stepped in the room. “I have a question, Isabella. Why would you mind choose me of all the males you have seen and met?”

“Trust me, I’ve asked myself that question plenty of times. Still haven’t quite figured it out.” As I spoke he closed the door behind himself.

“Mhm. Here’s the deal, Isabella. A one-time offer. Did Dol tell you how far I went to make sure nothing happened to her?”

“She showed me the entire trial.”

“Then you know I have an unhealthy obsession. It has been mentioned many times that I will go to any lengths to get you.”

“What’s your offer then, Edward?” I clenched my teeth, growling lowly.

“You come join my side willingly.” He chuckled and stepped forward until he was sitting on the foot of the bed. I backed up until my back was completely pressed against the wall.

“Never.”

“You don’t even want to know what that entails.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“There’s more to it than that.” I swallowed as he moved across the bed so that he was sitting directly in front of me, looking me over like I was dinner. Maybe it was a good thing I was a vampire.

“You don’t like me being around you. I may be locked out of your mind but I can see right through you.” I flinched away when his hand touched my face. “Oh, Isabella. You want to hate me, you honestly do. Your head is so messed up though.”

“I do hate you.” I growled out and kicked him as hard as I could, the kick sent him flying back into the wall and in seconds he was back in front of me, his eyes were lethal as he grabbed my throat and pinned me.

“Isabella.” He growled deeply as he pushed me back against the wall. “That was extremely stupid of you.” I struggled against him, kicking and clawing. I was weaker though. Even if I was a newborn he was somehow stronger. He used his other hand to grab my legs and force them flat against the bed. “I do _not_ like being told ‘no’. I do not like being denied what I want.” I struggled against his hold, baring my teeth.

“Fuck you, Edward.” I spat out.

“As tempting as that is; I am not quite ready for that point in our relationship.” He moved his hand down so that he was pressing down on the center of my chest.

“I don’t want any fucking relationship with you!”

“Relationships aren’t always two sided. I don’t really care what you want.” I screamed when he bit me, not because it hurt, I mean it did hurt but that wasn’t why I screamed. The scream was instinctual. A cry for help because I needed help. I couldn’t get him off me, I was out of options. He pulled back and growled, getting off of me and the bed, he didn’t turn to face me when he was at the door. I wanted to lunge for him but I was terrified. I thought newborns were stronger than the average vampire. Why couldn’t I push him off me?”

“Next time I will do more than mark you, you will be mine.” He growled and threw open the door, leaving without another word.

It wasn’t long before Emmett was standing in the door. “Dammit.” He growled and stood at the side of my bed, looking me over. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I managed to mumble. “That doesn’t make sense. It shouldn’t be possible.”

“Bella, are you okay?” He asked; sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at the bite mark from Edward. It was stinging but that was all there was to feel.

“Newborns are supposed to be stronger. Why was he stronger than me, Emmett? I couldn’t fight.” Emmett didn’t speak; it was obvious that he was thinking. Debating the answer.

“He’s been feeding on humans without SH in their system.” He finally stated with disgust in his voice. “It’s not well known because it’s not allowed in the city. Even the Volturi keep this information as quiet as possible. Vampires are affected by SH as well. It makes us weaker. If a vampire chooses to feed on humans without SH in their system it makes them stronger.”

I winced. Great; wonderful. Absolutely amazing. “If it’s not allowed can’t we get him in trouble?”

“It’s not exactly an easy thing to prove.”

“I thought they were using Maggie for trials.”

“That would require enough proof for it to go to trial. He’s too high of a rank. I’m sorry, Bella.” He hesitated then looked towards the door. “I’ll take you to the garden so that someone there can watch you. Tonight is a full moon and I think it’s getting to Rose this month.”

“How exactly does that work?”

“It’s not something you want to see. She will be locked down in a room, if she manages to break out…” He shook his head. “Not the point.”

“She’s still mad at you isn’t she?”

“I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me for that incident. I haven’t quite forgiven myself for it.”

“If you blow the whistle again I think she’ll kill you.”

“I’m not an idiot.” He chuckled and got up. “Have you talked to Dol?”

“I haven’t heard anything, either she has me locked out or she’s passed out and not dreaming.”

“When was the last time you talked to her?”

“Yesterday afternoon we argued, she hasn’t talked to me since.”

“Keep trying to get in touch with her.”

“Why?”

“I have a bad feeling.” He finally stated as he headed towards the door. “As much as I’d love to leave you here on your own I’d be the one who got the backlash if you aren’t being watched.”

“You know this surveillance of Bella thing is bullshit.”

“It’s not completely stupid.”

“Why would you say that?”

“It’s not just you, everyone who was part of Rosalie’s escape last time are under close watch.”

“I don’t see Alice walking around with a vamp glued to her side.”

“She won’t leave the city. Jasper has told her if she does something like that again he will never speak to her again.”

“She’s risking him to help us?”

“It’s complicated.” He stated after a moment.

We sat in silence for a couple minutes. “I had a lot of fun the first day I was here, Emmett. Just so you know. The best thing that had happened to me since I was taken by the Volturi was hang out with you.”

“You better not be confessing your undying love to my mate.” Rose had actually managed to sneak up on me, God knows how but I hadn’t even noticed the sound of her approaching my room. Her heartbeat should’ve been a dead giveaway so I honestly don’t know how I hadn’t heard her approach. However she successfully scared me.

“As if. We all know whose heart I’m after.” I turned to face her -where she was standing in the door with her arms crossed over her chest- and winked at her.

“And here I thought you were on Team Edward.” The joke was in bad taste and it was obvious by the look of guilt on her face that she hadn’t meant it. However I blocked out the agitation caused by it.

“I have a soft spot for blonde girls in the real world it seems.” I grinned at her and she relaxed though she also put up a very fake look of disgust.

“Sorry but I don’t swing for that team, Bella.” She closed her eyes for a second and yawned. “All this talking and sending off your flirting is draining me.” She opened her eyes and turned in the door frame, stepping out. “Let’s head to the cafeteria. You aren’t gonna send her off either, Emmett. If I die tonight then I want to spend the day with my friends. No offense, Emmett.”

He growled lightly but followed Rose out.

“Come on, Bella. I’d rather not get into trouble for you being left here on your own.” She didn’t bother turning around as she spoke, I got up and followed her.

 

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“Have you tried calling her?” Rosalie asked as she cut into her steak, I couldn’t help but eye the blood on the steak, it was animal blood but it did send my mind to the sound of all the human’s heartbeats in the dinner hall. I also had noticed the bags under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept in days. She also kept yawning and trying to keep her eyes open. I hadn’t asked yet, I would though.

“I’ve tried-“

“I mean an actual phone call. Have you tried calling her?”

It took a minute for me to realize what she meant. “No. She doesn’t have a phone though.”

“Of course not. But Mike does. My God you can be stupid sometimes, Bella.” She rolled her eyes and reached down under the table for a second and laying down Emmett’s phone which I assume she had taken from Emmett’s pocket.

“You have Mike’s number in there, Emmett?”

“I go around asking every human for their phone-“

The phone started playing the strange melody. I watched as he picked it up and put it to his ear. I vaguely remembered the same sound when we had been at Emily’s Diner.

“Why the Hell do you have Mike’s number, Alice?” He asked after Alice spoke, I didn’t listen into what she had to say but I did recognize her voice on the other end.

“He works in the clothing store, are you honestly surprised, Emmett?”

I focused on what Alice was saying. “Of course I have Mike’s number. Tell Rose to bite me. I haven’t been able to get Mike to pick up his phone so try calling Jessica. Before you ask, Bella. The sound the phone makes is called a ringtone. Anyways here’s both their numbers.” She rattled off two sets of ten numbers that I stored in my head for later. Who knows when I might need them?

He hung it up and pressed the buttons of the first number. Silence for a few seconds then a voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Jessica, its Emmett.”

“Ugh. What the Hell do you want?”

“Is Dol there?”

“You mean the bitch who stole my fiancée?”  
“You’re engaged?”

“Not for much longer if they don’t get back. They took off in the middle of the night last night and are refusing to talk to me.”

“You didn’t think to call?”

“You’re joking, right?” I could hear her snort on the other line. Annoyance thick in her voice. “This is domestic. Not a matter for the city.”

“Did you talk to them before they left?”

“No I didn’t. What do you not get about ‘ _took off in the middle of the night_ ’?” Dol was missing. Or was she? I wouldn’t put it past her to take him as far away from the city as possible if she felt he was in danger.

_God dammit! Dol, answer me! Where the fuck are you?_

Dead silence. Nothing.

“Jessica, I’m asking you. Is there anything you can tell me about when they left?”

She let out an annoyed sigh. “All I know is when I woke up; Dol was in the living room telling Mike they had to go immediately. When I left my room and looked out the living room window she was in the driver’s seat of some ugly ass van and Mike was in the passenger seat. She drove off with him.”

“Dol was driving?” I looked at Rosalie.

“Thank you for that information, Jessica.”

“If you see Dol tell her I told her to go fuck herself. I’m out of forgiveness towards her.” Emmett set the phone down and looked between us.

“Dol can’t drive.” I finally said after a bit of silence.

“How the Hell could Jessica see Dol driving?” Rose asked with a thoughtful look.

“I have no idea.” I whispered and groaned, wanting to throw something or someone. There was way too much happening.


	35. Thirty-Five

We threw ideas at each other but came up with nothing. We’d been sitting at the table for four hours and came up with nothing. Absolutely nothing. Every bad idea hurt more and more. There was absolutely nothing that we could think of that could explain it.

Rosalie was a bit more awake than she had been when we started talking this morning but only a bit.

“Know what? Screw it. We have nothing. Rosalie, what the Hell is wrong?”

“What do you mean?” She asked around a yawn as she took another bite of her tenth steak today.

“You are eating basically rare steaks and about to pass out. You know exactly what I mean.”

She chewed and swallowed the food. “I’m a werewolf, tonight is a full moon.” She sighed. “Basically, I’m satisfying some of the hunger of the wolf before it comes out tonight. It’s draining all the energy of my human form so it can make its appearance tonight.” I knew nothing about werewolves and new information was distracting my brain.

“What is it like?”

She paused and poked at the food in front of her with her fork. “It’s Hell. It’s like having my body ripped apart from the inside out. The thing is. The entire time the wolf is in control I see everything. I see everything it does. The entire time my body feeling as though it’s being ripped apart from the inside out.” She cut into the food and put another bite in her mouth.

I hesitated at that, I remembered being turned into a vampire, the insistent burning. I had to wonder if it worse or better than that. “You don’t have to talk about it.”

She swallowed and looked at the table, her eyes closing for a moment before she jerked up straight. “Yeah…um…It’s fine. It’s good to talk about things.”

“That’s coming from the girl who freaks out any time we ask questions.”

“Maybe I have lower inhibitions due to the fact that I’m about to spend several hours straight in pure agony.” She growled out then blinked and looked at me. “That came out wrong.”

“It’s alright.” I gave her a comforting smile which she rolled her eyes at.

“The process is horrible, like I said before. However; the worst part is the before part, the daytime part. The constant exhaustion and hunger is bad enough but as it gets closer and closer to the change I become less and less me. I guess you could say the animal below the surface starts reaching through the cracks.” I didn’t really know what to say so I let her talk. “The wolf. She is hateful and hungry and the worst part is she wants every single vampire in this place dead.”

“Is that why you mentioned dying tonight?”

“If I break out of the concrete room they lock me in they kill me. Actually lock me in is a bad term. They seal me in and fill the entrance with concrete.”

“You can break out of a room filled to the brim with concrete?”

“If she’s adamant enough she could probably tear Superman to shreds without the help of kryptonite.”

“Who is Superman?”

“You’re kidding me, right? What did you read in the shadow city?” I went to defend myself though I didn’t exactly know why or how. “Know what? The second I get the chance I’m tearing Aro to shreds. What kid doesn’t read comic books? Actually, you were ten. What eight year old doesn’t read comic books?” She narrowed her eyes at me.

“Coming from the four year old trapped in an eighteen year old body.”

“At least I read good books and awesome comics. Seriously. What did you do in the Shadow City?”

“Since when do you call it the Shadow City?”

“It’s more interesting to say then Volterra.” She yawned again and took another bite. “Emmett, can you get me another one?”

He nodded and got up, out of the corner of my eye I could’ve sworn…no. I looked anyways to see but there was nothing there.

“Bella.” I looked at Rosalie who was watching me curiously. “You alright?”

“No. I’m probably going insane.” I shrugged trying to be casual but she didn’t buy it; her eyes narrowed.

“You better not fall back into your head. I-“

“Don’t worry, Rose. I’m holding on for now.” My mind ran through what I had seen though, out of the corner of my eye, right behind Emmett. There had been something poking out of the wall like a tail. Either one of two things, I was going insane or there had been something there. I had to be going insane.

“Holding on is not a good thing. Bella, you’re my friend. If we do this thing I want you with me.”

“It’s weird to have friends.” I frowned; it was something I hadn’t really addressed. Friends were somewhat new territory for me. A friend was one thing but friends weren’t common.

“You should get used to it. You aren’t getting rid of us anytime soon.” She grinned and yawned again. “Dammit. This sucks.”

“Did you ever change in Volterra?”

“Once. When I’m in my middle state I don’t usually change. Let’s just say Caius wanted to get rid of me as quick as possible after that.”

“Wait, did you almost kill Caius?”

“I came so close to biting his head off. Took around ten vampires to restrain me. I was so fucking close to killing that smug bastard.” She grimaced. “After they had me completely constrained they kept me down for the entire night. They locked me in my room for a week and didn’t feed me because of what I did. I was surprised they even gave me water.” I looked up as Emmett came back our way holding a tray with another steak and fruit bowl along with a black cup with a lid and straw. He sat down by her putting the tray in front of me.

“I don’t remember any of that.” It seemed logical that something as eventful as that would have been noisy and if they’d been starving her I doubt she’d done it quietly. I glanced at the cup and was pretty sure the smell coming from it…I shoved the thoughts back for now.

“I think that was one of the weeks where you were in the Throne Room.” I grimaced, that I did remember. There were times where Aro would keep me at his side for days at a time, giving me maybe two or three hours of sleep at the most. During those times I was forbidden to leave his side so I had to sleep on the floor. Sleeping on stone floors was better when suffering from no sleep though.

“Thanks for bring up those memories.”   
“Always glad to help.” She grinned, we sat quietly for a while. I continued pushing thoughts at Dol, trying to get some sort of response from her. She finished the steak she was on and took the tray Emmett had put in front of me and started on her fruit bowl. She picked the cup up and drank out of it, I had to look away and stop breathing. _Dammit._ “When was the last time you fed?” I could feel her eyes on me.

“Last night. Do you really have to drink that in front of me?” I breathed out.

“Get over it. I have to drink it or I become full werewolf and I am not in the mood to make this a monthly. Espec-“

“Moving on!” I interrupted before she said something I didn’t want to hear.

“Such a prude. You’re going to have to deal with the vampire diet and the fact that you aren’t allowed to feed daily. You’ll also have to deal with the fact that I have to drink this stuff too.”

“You aren’t going crazy full blown no-control vampire like you did when you met me last time though.” I buried the thirst behind a wall again and went back to watching her eat. She looked a little more awake now.

“That’s why I drink through a straw. The blood tastes like crap but because it’s cold so it keeps me in control.”

“Couldn’t regular vampires do that?”

“We can’t do it like that. Trust me, good guy vampires have searched for loopholes for years. Animal blood, blood banks, you name it. The safest way to feed that’s been discovered is SH.” Emmett spoke up, watching Rosalie drink her cup of blood out of the corner of his eye. “Nature’s cruel joke on us.”

“It makes no sense.”

“Hot fresh human blood seems to be the only thing that sates the thirst.”

“I’m only bringing this up because I care.” Rosalie finally said after another moment of silence. “Are you okay?”

“We’ve already-“

“Not the brink of insanity crap. I’m talking about the thing this morning with Edward.”

I had buried that behind another wall, I had chosen not to think about it, I didn’t want to think about it.

“How the Hell do you know about that?” I growled at her, making it clear I wasn’t happy she had brought it up.

“Emmett told me what had happened before he left me to check on you. He didn’t…”

“No. He bit me. That was it.” I interrupted, not wanting to think about what she was about to ask.

“Him biting you isn’t nothing. You need to talk about it. I understand you have this weird ass ability that lets you build walls but you’ve already said those walls aren’t completely secure. Burying it isn’t going to help you any.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Rosalie.” I growled.

“Too bad. What exactly did he tell you?” I could tell she had no plans of dropping it, even though she looked like she was going to pass out any second.

“Fine. He offered for me to join his side willingly. Of course I trust that asshole as much as Dol trusted Kachiri so I told him ‘never’. He got too close so I kicked him.”

“Then he dropped the nice guy act?”

“He did. Then he bit me.”

“You’re leaving something out.”

“Did Dol tell you what was happening in my head while I was buried in the back of it?”

“She couldn’t get into your head to know anything.”

“I’m going to assume no. Look. In my head; it wasn’t the same time as it was here. I lived four years of life in my head. Two of those years I spent with a very sweet guy. My mind chose…Edward as the person for me to love.”

“You have such a fucked up head.” She sighed. “How the Hell did you hold it together for as long as you did? He saw that in Dol’s head and is using it as leverage, isn’t he?

“How’d you guess?”

“In my four long years of life my father has had to fix more than one of Edward’s messes.”

His messes… “I want to talk to Renesmee.” I felt slightly guilty that the term mess had made me think of her but she had been a mistake. There was more though. She had warned me.

“You don’t want to go down there.” Rose said after a minute.

“I need to talk to her.”

“You don’t want to go down there, Bella. That room is full of humans and shifters that have been through more torture than you can guess. There is too much blood and you wouldn’t be able to control yourself.”

“I don’t care. Right now I have her asshole father out for my…whatever the Hell he thinks he can get.”

“What will talking to his daughter accomplish?” Rosalie asked after a bit of silence. I absently noticed she wasn’t touching her food anymore. The look she was giving me was searching.

“I’m not completely sure but I need to talk to her.”

“She won’t have anything to tell you that we can’t.”

“I’ll get you down there tomorrow, Bella.” Emmett said before I could snap at her again.

Rosalie narrowed her eyes at him. “You realize how bad of an idea that is, right?”

“Rosalie, if she wants to talk to Renesmee let her. If she goes after a human while she’s down there -let’s be honest- it’ll be better for the human.”

“What about the eyes on Bella thing?”

“I’ll watch her.”

“I want to go back to my room.” I got up as I spoke, they were talking to me like I wasn’t there and I wasn’t in the mood. “If you don’t follow me that’s your own issue. I’m not going to flee the city.” I growled out as I headed for the hallways, I sensed Emmett following me with Rosalie close behind him.

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I was in bed, it was oddly comforting. I stared at the ceiling and let myself wander my mind. I looked at each wall I’d built today. Each one had its own purpose but only one of the walls was solid. The one that held my fake life. I considered it. I knew I could go through that wall but I also knew that if I went through it I would never come back.

“Izzy.” I jumped at the voice of a small child and turned around to look at the little girl that could be nothing more than Dol when she was little.

What was the purpose of this? “Hello.”

“Why did you do it?”

“What did I do? What are you talking about?”

“You let me go. You let go of me. You stopped believing me. Why did you do it?” I reached out to touch her hand but she jerked back, fear crossing her face. “Don’t!”

I didn’t know what to do, I was in my own head but it clearly didn’t mean I had control over what I did.

“What exactly…”

“I didn’t ask the wolves to be there! You blamed me and told me it was all my fault! It wasn’t my fault though! You stopped believing in me! You’re gonna do it again!” She dropped to her knees and cried, another version of her came up behind her. This one had to be her fourteen year old self.

“You don’t remember that. What happened between us when we were little.”

“What is happening?” I asked her.

“The link between us is screwed up. I don’t normally do this but since my main consciousness is-“

“Wait, are you Dol’s-“

“We’re both members of her Lower Consciousness; basically the ones who hold memories. We run along the undersurface and create dreams and nightmares. We also make appearances when she meditates. Your ability allowed us to cross the bond though, sort of amplified us.” She paused and faded out for a second. “I’m supposed to be in our head but she’s under heavy sedation.”

“Wait, why is she sedated?”

“I don’t know. I just know I haven’t been able to surface because we’re sedated. Find us. Please.” She knelt down and touched the younger Dol’s shoulder. The younger girl looked up at the older version of herself. “I’m surprised your own consciousness isn’t here. We have good memories.” The small child stood and melted into the older version of herself then the two of them disappeared leaving me alone in my head and scared.


	36. Thirty-Six

We were all gathered in my room. Rosalie was lying on her back on my bed staring at the ceiling. Her body was covered in yellowing bruises. Emmett was sitting next to her head watching her with worry.

“Last night I talked to Dol’s lower consciousness.” I finally said after we’d sat silently.

“You talked to Dol?” Rosalie asked with surprise.

“I talked to her lower consciousness. Not her.”

“That makes no sense.” Emmett was clearly confused by what I’d said.

“When I was trapped in my head my subconscious manifested itself in my fantasy life as Dol. That’s what I’d assumed it was when she appeared. It wasn’t my subconscious though. It was her lower consciousness. I don’t understand my ability, I really don’t.”

“So _she_ used _your_ ability? How is that possible?” Rosalie pushed herself up into a sitting position, wincing at the movements.

“Something to do with the connection between us, I don’t know what. That’s not the point.”

“Bella, that doesn’t make any sense.” Rosalie’s voice was full of worry. She thought I was losing my grip on reality. I could see it in the way she looked at me.

“Don’t you do that, Rose. Don’t you talk at me like I’m the lesser person. I get it. I’m going crazy. This isn’t part of it though.”

“Fine. What did her…lower consciousness have to say?”

I shook my head at her, it was clear she didn’t believe it. “She told me she was sedated.”

“Sedated?” Confusion covered Rose’s expression. “Who the Hell would sedate her? This honestly-“

“I don’t know, Rose. I have no idea. I’m just passing the message along.”

Emmett looked thoughtful though, he stood and headed to the door. “Rosalie, take her to see Renesmee. I need to talk to Stefan.”

“What about?” He didn’t answer her though, instead he took off out of the room leaving us alone. “God dammit. Emmett!” She got up and headed for the door, I grabbed her arm, carefully, forcing her to stop. “Bella, let me go!” She jerked against me and winced when the force caused me to push against her bruised skin.

“Rose, whatever it is he’ll tell us later.” She growled at me, jerking against my grip.

“Let go of me.” I let her go fully expecting her to bolt out the door. Instead she stood there, glaring at me. Now I saw it though. The look in her eyes was fear. Solid fear. “Last time he bolted out the door without explanation to the _Lado_ he ratted out the escape.” Her voice was full of pain and anger.

“He won’t-“

“Whatever. Let’s go see Ness.”

“Ness?”

“I’ve met her before. We were close friends for a while.” She headed out the door before I could ask her about it.

 

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Rosalie hadn’t been joking. The dungeon was full of half drained humans and the smell of blood. Lots of blood. I secured the wall blocking the thirst the best I could but it was hard to focus all the same. I also understood why it had made Dol vomit when we’d been taken down here. It hurt to see what could have happened to us down here.

“Leah spent her last night across from me.” Renesmee spoke quietly from where she was, her voice startled me. “My dad told me you’d come visit.” I stopped looking at the shifters and humans and walked through the center until I was standing in front of Renesmee’s cell. “You’ve changed since I last saw you.” She smiled sadly. “Why are you here?”

I sat down in front of her and set my hand on the bars. She watched me with a curious look in her eyes. “I wanted to ask more about your father.”

“I know. You could’ve asked Rosalie though. You came to me for another reason.”

“There’s got to be things you know about your father that no one else does.” She pursed her lips and searched my expression. “You will have to let me in your head.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have an ability.” She lifted her hand and placed it on the bar with mine so that we were touching. I jerked away when images of me lying helpless in the corner of the cage I had been in before entered my head. “You saw that?” Surprise was in her voice.

“What the hell?”

“That’s my ability. I can send my thoughts to others by touching them. You saw that though?”

“How the hell did you do that?”

“Maybe I can bypass shields? I honestly don’t know.”

I watched her expression to see if she was lying. She wasn’t. So she didn’t know she could bypass my shield? Then again how could she? As far as I was aware I was the only person with an ability like this.

“Let me show you my father.” She finally said after we sat there reading each other’s expressions for a minute. “Who he is and who he can be. If he chooses it.” I hesitated then put my hand on hers.

 

_“Renesmee.” My –Renesmee’s- mother’s voice filled my –her- ears in a choked breath. Her grip on me loosened as her dead limbs dropped to her side._

_“Taylor!” Edward growled as he leaned over me and my mother. Everything was strange, the guilt, the fear, the curiosity. I blinked and looked at Edward again. “Don’t you die on me! Taylor!” He bit my mother’s neck, her arm, her shoulder. I could smell something sweet, something delicious. I leaned in towards my mother’s neck before hands wrapped around me and lifted me. I made a strange sound somewhere between a squeak and a hiss._

_“Ed-“ The woman holding me’s voice was strained. The voice belonged to Alice._

_“Don’t you dare. She’s alive.” Edward snarled at Alice as he continued biting my mother._

_“She’s gone. Edward, she’s gone.” He lifted away from my mother’s broken corpse and eyed me with something that rooted fear in me._

_“She’s alive.” He growled and stepped around the corpse of my mother._

_“She’s dead.” Alice spoke and stepped back against the wall. “You should’ve let Carlisle be here. You shouldn’t have hidden her. She is dead, Edward.”_

_He looked at me then behind me at the woman holding me._

_“Clean her up. She will never leave here. No one will know what happened.” He pushed past both of us and left the two of us with my dead mother._

_“I’m sorry, Renesmee.” Alice’s voice filled our ears._

 

She pulled her hand away with tears in her eyes. “My first memory outside of my mother’s stomach.”

“Did he…”

“He truly loved my mother. He did. That’s what triggered his obsession. I may have stretched the facts when I first met you and Dol. It was for your own good. The more you feared him the less likely…”

“The less likely I would trust him?”

“He only loved my mother. He has destroyed the lives of many women trying to cope with his desperation. My father can be a good man for the right people. For everyone else though. He’s dangerous.”

“I know that. Renesmee…how old are you?”

She smiled sadly, biting her lip. “I have been alive for fifty years.” Fifty years… “Yes I have spent all fifty years in this cage.”

Fifty years underground. Eight years with limited freedoms in Volterra had driven me crazy. Fifty years in that cage. _Fifty years_. I stared at the girl in shock.

“How?”

“You thought you were insane, correct? When you arrived here you thought Dol was a hallucination?” She lifted her hand and touched the palm of my hand, what I saw now was unsettling. The area around me was filled with people and dogs and mutant blobs, each person had no face, each animal had something wrong with it, a missing ear, a missing eye, you name it. Each of the blobs lurked in the corners of her vision, staying out of sight but also visible enough to show how distorted they were. _I started seeing things a long time ago. A very long time ago. The challenge used to be discerning reality from reality until I accepted that reality was much worse than the hallucinations. Even though I see them they keep me sane. They remind me how bad everything is. Then there’s her._ Out of all the hallucinations one became familiar. Very familiar. The woman I’d seen in her memory earlier…her mother stepped forward until she was standing beside me in Renesmee’s sight. _I guess you could say I embraced the insanity. I ignore the disturbing hallucinations most of the time. Except her. When I began hallucinating her I started realizing maybe it wasn’t all horrible. Maybe I could be okay._ She pulled her hand away, I blinked rapidly. “My father destroyed me. He claims he did what he did to keep me alive but the truth is he was too much of a coward to let me go. I could’ve escaped years ago but…I’m insane.” She shrugged. “I care about what happens to others but…it’s easier to fall back into the hallucinations. I’m sure you can relate.”

“I have never hallucinated.” I knew what she meant though. It was easier to fall back into fiction than deal with reality. The temptation was overwhelming.

“You aren’t stupid, Bella. Rosalie retreated to her books, I retreated to hallucinations. You retreated to your mind. In the long run we all accepted that… Reality. It royally sucks.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Even if you make it through all of this. Even if you make it out without my father killing you; without another vampire killing you. You’re as stable as the ground you walk on. Girl, we’re walking on marble. What happens when you walk on dirt?”

I got up and went to move away, she grabbed my arm and filled my head with memories, brown haired brown eyes women. Each one human, each one in the same place I had sat in, each one naked and bloody and bruised. I ripped my arm out of her grip, trembling.

“Do yourself a favor. Fall into that dirt.”

I shook my head, pushing those images behind a wall. I was shaking and trembling. “Renesmee, you are a coward. I won’t hide. Never again.”

“You look like my mother. Too much like her. I don’t care if you’re a vampire, he will hurt you. You should hide. You should bury yourself.”

“I’ll kill him before he does worse.”

“I’m sorry, Bella. I really am.” The girl in the cage closed her eyes and sighed, smiling softly. “Enjoy reality. I’ll be eating cake with my mom.”

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

I stared at the ceiling, contemplating everything Renesmee had told me. She wasn’t all there. It was clear. Edward. My God, Edward. He’d implied to me he wanted to help her and somewhere deep down I wanted to believe it. Then there was what she’d said about reality. It was hard to deal with. How far was I from falling back into the fantasy world I’d created?

This knowledge did give me some leverage with Edward. Why had I gone down there?

It twisted and turned in my gut. I knew why.

Hope.

I wanted to believe deep down that I might have a future with Edward. The real Edward. No matter how much I wanted to separate reality from fiction, I wanted to believe deep down that he could love me.

 _B…Bella?_ Dol’s voice was so faint in my head I almost didn’t hear it.


	37. Thirty-Seven

Dol’s brain was foggy. Where was she? She tried to open her eyes but she couldn’t get them to move. Everything felt so _heavy_. She tried to focus on her surroundings but she couldn’t even feel her body, not really.

 _B…Bella?_ She wasn’t certain her voice made it out.

It took what felt like hours but finally her mind started functioning. She started to feel her body again. She ran over the checklist. Arms, legs, ten fingers, ten toes, head. She was intact. Where was she? What had happened?

_A growl rumbled low in Dol’s chest as the vehicle approached, she slipped back behind a tree. She listened to the sound of it moving past her and without thinking she trailed after it, staying to the shadows._

_“Dol!” She didn’t look back as Mike tried to call her back._

_She should’ve. Something was following her. She didn’t realize it until she was blinded by the Throne Room in Volterra._

_“Hello, Dol.” Zafrina’s voice rang in her ears followed by a blunt force slamming into her skull._

“Good morning, Sunshine.” Zafrina’s voice rang in Dol’s ears. She was still physically drained. She managed to will her eyes open, they were in a small room with stone walls. Not far behind Zafrina Dol saw a head of blonde hair that woke her entire body up almost immediately. Whatever it was that ran through her veins burned away whatever drugs might’ve been keeping her sedated at the sight of Mike the same way it had burned the alcohol away when she’d known he’d needed her.

She couldn’t see much of him but she could feel it now.

“It’s hard to keep you under sedation. Took gallons of elephant tranquilizer being administered every time we touched him to keep you from waking up.”

_Dol jerked up and yanked against the chains that bound her entire body as Mike shouted. She searched frantically around the room to see where the Hell she was and more importantly where Mike was. He was on the other end of the room with Zafrina leaning over him with a sharp blade pressed into his wrist. She was only conscious for a few seconds before something sharp was stabbed into her chest and she fell into blackness._

“Don’t touch him.” Dol threatened as she jerked against the chains that bound her.

“Nope. Daula, you aren’t going to get out of those. Titanium plated. Only vampires can get loose from those things. Trust me. My sister made sure of it.”

“When my-“

“Your sister hasn’t known to look for you. Once you send her a message over that fun little link between the two of you, it will be the first time anyone has known to look for you. As far as your little boy toy’s fiancée is concerned you took off with him in the middle of the night.”

 _Bella!_ Dol had to wonder how long it had been since she had sent that last thought.

_Dol? Dol! Are you okay?_

_Zafrina._

“I’m talking, Daula. If you ignore me he will be the one to pay the price.” She looked over her shoulder at Mike who was still unconscious on the ground. “One thing my sister taught me was nothing is more agonizing for a shapeshifter than their Imprintee to be in pain and there be nothing to do about it.”

“So what, you and your sisters were the psycho bunch?”

“Senna left me.” Zafrina spoke softly. “She returned to the Amazon wanting nothing more to do with this. I want my revenge though. You and your insane sister got my sister killed.”

“She earned it.” Dol grimaced. “She got what was coming to her. The only thing I wish was that it had been me who ripped her skull from her body.”

Zafrina turned and walked to Mike’s side, picking him up by his neck. Dol jerked against the chains and snarled and did everything she could to get lose. Mike looked terrible, every inch of his skin was covered in cuts or bite marks. What had Zafrina done to him while she slept? Tears streaked Dol’s face as she continued struggling against the chains.

“Please.” She choked out as Zafrina tightened her grip on Mike. He was unconscious, God knows how sedated he was. Part of Dol was thankful. If he was sedated he probably didn’t feel a thing.

“Say it again.”

“Please. Please, Zafrina. Let him go. Please.”

“I like when you beg.” She set Mike down carefully. “You aren’t the first spectral shapeshifter I’ve met. Would you like to learn what you can do? You are able to create new shapeshifters. You can take the essence of dead shapeshifters and transfer their transformations to humans. Kachiri learned a hard lesson with her last Spectral though. A high enough dose of SH stops a Spectral from being able to change. Forever. It traps them in their human form. Makes them useless.”

“That’s why you injected me.”

“Yes. I knew you’d be hard to catch if you were able to change between human and ghost or whatever you want to call it. I injected you.”

“Sounds like you planned a while for this.”

“When you’ve spent as much time with the mind reader and seer as we have you learn to hide from it.”

“So Leah was never going to make it out of there?”

“Never. We let the show go on purely to get what we needed. The perfect escape.”

_Dol?_

_I’m here, Bella. I’m here. She has Mike. She has both of us._

_I’m talking to Stefan._

“Dol. Come on. We’ve talked about this.”

“I’m listening.”

“I can see it in your eyes. You’re talking to your sister. Block her out. Now.”

“I-“

“If you keep talking to her he will pay the price.”

 _I’m sorry._ Dol walled off her mind, guilt flooding her in the process.

“Better. Much better. Now that I have your full attention. I want you to meet my new ally.”

There it was again. The wrongness that had drawn her before. _What is that?_

Dol tensed as a spectral russet brown wolf emerged from the wall. Its lips were rolled back over its teeth, its eyes were full of anger and hatred.

Dol knew instinctively what this was.

“That is a wolf. The essence of a wolf.”

“Jake. Shift.” The wolf turned solid. “Turn human.” The wolf shredded out of its wolf body and was replaced with a black haired dark brown eyed boy that was no older than eighteen.

“He’s wrong. That is wrong. How the hell?”

“Kachiri. As I said, she had a spectral shifter before.”

“He can’t exist.” Dol yanked at her chains, staring at the abomination with fear.

“A very nifty trick that took a lot of killing and testing to perfect.”

“What did you do!” Dol could feel the jaguar inside of her pacing nervously.

“The perfect weapon. The essence of a human ripped from a dead human and shoved into the body of a wolf.” Dol yanked against the restraints again. “She gave the wolf to the Volturi and allowed them to raise him.”

A new approach. He was a shifter. No matter what he was a shifter.

“Jakey, boy. I got you a new toy.” He shifted and stalked towards Dol, curling his lips back.

“Don’t.” Dol growled out and pushed back against the wall moving away from the wolf. “Back off. Now.”

The wolf paused in its tracks, ears twitching nervously.

“Jake, you don’t listen to her. Do as I said. Get her!” The wolf in front of Dol hesitated briefly then lunged for Dol’s throat.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

 _Dol! Dol!_ “Dammit!” I snarled and punched the nearest thing, which, unfortunately was a very nice looking vase that shattered to bits.

“Bella, what happened?” Rosalie didn’t dare move towards me.

“That was my favorite vase.” We were gathered in a small room that Stefan called his bedroom. It lacked a bed though. It actually lacked furniture completely and was instead littered with pillars with expensive art on it.

“Is that the real Mona Lisa?” Rosalie was staring at a painting on the wall that was in fact the Mona Lisa.

“Now is not the time, Rose.”

“Oh, relax. Yes it is. They don’t even know I have it.”

“Relax?” I growled at Stefan and went to lunge for him before Emmett grabbed my arms, pinning them to my back. “That psycho has my sister! She has my fucking sister and you’re telling me to relax!”

“Is yelling really going to help her?”

I growled lowly and jerked out of Emmett’s hold. “Fine. How do you plan on dealing with this?”

“Well the first thing is we won’t just run in there blind. Zafrina has a fun little ability that is going to cause a lot of issues if we can’t defend against it.”

“What ability?” I growled lowly.

“She can make you see whatever she wants you to see. That’s how she tricked Jessica into thinking Mike and Dol had bailed on you. That’s why I came to talk to Stefan yesterday.”

“You were verifying?”

“I was having him send up some vampires to check for Zafrina’s scent.”

“And?” I growled out. _Dol!_

“We found it. Only briefly though. She got in a car and we haven’t been able to find where she went.”

“A car? Don’t you have that city wired with cameras?” Rosalie asked, looking at Stefan, voice hopeful.

“We do. We saw where the car went. We know where she is.”

“Then why the Hell are we just standing here?”

“Because currently you are the only person that cannot be affected by her ability. I like Dol a lot. That’s why I pulled the strings I did.”

Images flooded my vision, a wolf with brown fur emerging from a wall, I could _feel_ the wrongness emerging from it. It moving towards…oh God…white hot pain as teeth tore into our neck. I screamed and dropped to my knees, grabbing hold of my neck.

“Dol!”

Screaming filled my ears and I covered them, trying to get rid of the sound. It wasn’t in the room though. It was in my head.

“Jake. Back off.” I was in Dol’s head, seeing things through her eyes.

 _Bella absorb everything I see. She’s going to put me under again._ Dol’s voice was shaking through her crying as she tried to look at every detail of the room. Her vision was blurred by tears though.

“You have another chew toy over there. Gotta be careful with him though. He’s much more breakable.”

We looked at the wolf and snarled as he turned and headed towards the back left corner where Mike was laying unconscious. “Don’t you touch him! Don’t you fucking touch him!” The wolf stopped, a growl coming from it, its ears twitching.

We looked around the room again, finally finding a door in the ceiling on the opposite corner of the room from where Mike was.

“It’s time for you to shut up, Daula.” Zafrina growled as she stalked towards us, we watched her approach. “Your sister is here, isn’t she?” She pulled something out of her pocket and seconds later Dol sank into blackness leaving me in my own head and curled in a ball on the floor with the two vampires and a hybrid leaning over me, one shaking me frantically.

“She’s underground…” I choked out. “She has something…it’s a shapeshifter but…it’s not…it’s unnatural…”

“The thing the Volturi raised. What I thought was bred by them…do you think they sent it?”

I ran through the memories Dol had sent me at the beginning of her intrusion. “Kachiri created it. She used a spectral shapeshifter and created it.”

“Nineteen years ago.” Stefan spoke quietly. “Nineteen years ago Kachiri vanished for a year after acquiring a male shapeshifter. She never allowed us to see him transformed and he was never allowed to speak.

“Where is she?” I got to my feet quickly and headed for the door.

“If you go in there alone it will get you killed.” Rose grabbed my arm but I jerked out of her grip immediately

“I don’t care.”

“This is suicide.”

“If we don’t get there soon either she or Mike will end up dead to this creature.”

“Bella.”

I pushed open the door and headed down a hallway followed closely by the three others.

“Laurent!” Laurent was with us seconds after Stefan shouted for him as we moved through the hallways.

“Take them to where Zafrina is. Make sure they all return.” Then Stefan stopped following us and turned in the opposite direction, leaving us with Laurent.

“At the very least try to project your mental shield, Bella.”

It came as an instinct, maybe it had to do with all the mental walling of my own brain but all I had to do was think and I could _feel_ my ability reaching out and wrapping around each of the other’s minds and building walls. In fact all the walls on my brain felt sturdier, stronger. Maybe it was vampiric adrenaline, I really didn’t know and I really didn’t care.

_I don’t know if you can hear me, Dol but we’re coming._


	38. Thirty-Eight

Dol jerked awake as something touched her arm.

“Dol.” Mike’s voice was full of pain and worry as he whispered in her ear. “It’s me. Breathe.”

“You’re alive.” She choked out as she looked at him. When she did she was shocked to see that all of his wounds were healed. “How?...”

“She had some of that vampire’s healing blood.”

“Where is she?” Dol asked, looking around the room.

“I don’t know. She wasn’t here when I woke up.” Dol leaned her head back against whatever was behind her, tears streaking her face.

“I’m so sorry, Mike.”

“Don’t.”

“I drug you into this.”

“I chose to stay around you. I could’ve told you to leave again. Now shut up and sit up.” Dol looked at him with confusion. “Sit up, Dol.” She did as told, watching him as he moved behind her.

“Before I moved to Calden I got good at picking pockets. I didn’t need to do it. I just wanted to see if I could get away with.” There was a click behind her then the chains binding her dropped.

“Holy…how…” She shook them off and stretched her arms out wincing.

“I stole the key off her.”

“Off a vampire? You stole a key from a vampire? How the hell did you manage that?”

“Is it true? Can you create shifters?”

“I thought you were sedated.”

“I heard her talking.”

“Talking to who?”

“I don’t know. A guy.”

“Was it the shifter?”

“He was watching me. It wasn’t him.”

_Bella?_

_Dol? Are you alright?_

_She has someone else here._

_Are you okay?_

_I’m fine. She had Carlisle’s blood._

_Is-_

_Mike is alive. She’d rather torture us than kill us._

_We’re coming._

_She isn’t alone. Don’t come in alone._

“What is this?” Dol jumped at the sound of a familiar voice, she growled and pushed Mike behind her. “It’s been a _very_ long time, Blue.” Alec’s voice made her sick for more than one reason.

“Hello, Alec.” She bared her teeth at him causing him to laugh.

“Just as threatening as I remember you.”

She pushed herself to her feet so that she was crouching in front of Mike. “You are the biggest mistake I ever made.”

“You don’t remember do you, Blue?”

“I remember you gave me the SH knowing damn well it would keep me human.”

“I didn’t know that. Blue, you really don’t remember. You only remember what you want to. I didn’t do anything you didn’t choose. You chose to stay there, you chose to ease your guilt with that birthday cake, and when it came to the last second you told Isabella the truth that made her lose all faith in you.”

Dol growled, the jaguar in her began tearing at her again from the inside only this time wasn’t like the last, this time it was trying to escape out of her back…towards Mike…

 _“You are able to create new shapeshifters. You can take the essence of dead shapeshifters and transfer their transformations to humans”_ Zafrina’s voice rang in her head. She couldn’t do that to Mike, not right now…or could she?

“That growl is new. Sounds like you’re getting acquainted with the animal part of you.”

“If only.” Mike touched her shoulder causing her to jerk away. She could feel the jaguar in her. It wanted to escape to a new person. A new human.

“Alec.” Zafrina’s voice rang down.

“I’m coming Zafrina.” Disgust was potent in his voice.

“Sedate her.”

“She’s not doing any harm.”

“She’s talking to her sister. As she always does. Sedate her.” Zafrina’s voice was a growl.

Alec gave Dol a look that unsettled her, she blinked and shrieked, Alec now stood directly in front of her, he leaned down and whispered in her ear so quiet and fast she almost didn’t catch the words. “I will give you one last chance. The same offer as last time. We will be gone in an hour. You can either choose to run or bolt. Slow your heartrate.”

“Get away from her!” Mike once again moved to grab Dol as Alec vanished from the room. She jerked away from his touch and forced herself to calm down, steadying her heartrate. Alec had offered her an escape before but she’d chosen to stay behind so she could be with him. She hadn’t been able to stay with him last time though. Even though it fought all of her baser instincts she trusted him. Even though it was stupid she trusted the honesty of his words.

_Bella, wait. Don’t come find me._

_What the hell are you talking about?_

_Alec-_

_You’re kidding me right?_ Dol was pulled into her sister’s head, a form of Bella manifesting in front of her in a room full of different walls, at the back behind Bella was a very strong sturdy looking wall the emitted something Dol didn’t know how to describe. Each of the other walls was cracked but that one drew her attention.

 _Are you kidding me, Dol?_ Dol’s attention moved to the mental form of her sister. _After everything. Everything_ he _did to you_. _You are going to trust him._

_You don’t under-_

_Dol, you were fourteen years old._

_And I made the wrong choice. He didn’t lie to me though._

_Swear to me he can be trusted. Swear that if we stop where we are it won’t get you and Mike hurt._

Dol hesitated which earned her a hostile glare from her sister. _If I need you I will call you. I swear, Bella. I don’t want someone to get killed when I know I can get free._

_If you’re wrong, Dol. I won’t ever forgive you. This isn’t just your life._

_If I’m wrong I won’t ever forgive myself._

Their minds broke apart, Mike was sitting in front of her, hands inches from her but not touching.

She pressed her finger to her lip and moved as far from the exit as possible. Mike hesitantly joined her and she spoke softly. “We have a way out. Mike, I can’t protect you.”

“Turn me.” She stared stunned at him. “I remember at the funeral you talked about absorbing the essence of Leah’s jaguar. They said you can make shifters.”

“I-“

He grabbed her hand, this time when she tried to jerk away he held on, tears streaked her cheeks as the jaguar in her moved straight through her arm and entered into Mike. She watched as his body stiffened and as the essence joined with him. The second it was gone from her his grip on her loosened and he fell back, shaking and…radiating. Dol stared in awe at way the jaguar’s essence skated along his body, just above the surface until he was covered completely…then it faded into him, vanishing from sight. His breathing sped up until it was rapid and uncontrolled then a jaguar tore out of his skin and clothes. Dol barely had a chance to jump back and avoid the claws as it jerked to its feet.

Mike was unsteady in his new body, legs shaking beneath him as he looked around frantically.

“Mike?” He looked at Dol with confusion and fear etched deep in his eyes. “It’s okay.” She spoke softly as she moved slowly towards him. “It’s disorienting, right?”

His tail flicked nervously behind him as he lay down and put his head on his front paws.

 _You’ll be okay. We have to hurry though._ She sent the thought to him causing him to jump and growl. _Sh. Have to be quiet. They can’t hear this. Please._

He nodded slowly, visibly trembling.

_Cross species communication is difficult according to Quil. It’s natural for me. I need you to let your instincts guide you, Mike. Stand up._

She leaned forward and rested a hand on his shoulder as he stood up slowly. Dol couldn’t begin to imagine what he was going through. She had never been in that position. She had never become an entirely new species. He nodded as he stretched out.

_If I were to picture you as an animal I’d have thought you’d be more of a lion._

She grinned at the tiger who growled lightly at her then jumped at the sound.

_Sh._

_Now she’s just being cruel._ His voice entered her head faintly.

_I am._

_Did you just hear that?_

_Yes. Calm down. Walk around the room. Allow your instincts to guide you. You will need to be able to run when we get out there._

_This feels…strange._ His voice was stronger this time as he slowly began stalking around the room. At first his movements were unsteady, Dol moved to the center of the room and watched as her circled around her, slowly his movements became more natural.

_Mike?_

_When it’s all over I want you to take back the animal. I can’t be this._

_I think I can do that. If I can’t…_

_I won’t blame you._ Dol jumped when Mike’s nose touched her back. _Dol, you won’t be able to run as fast as me._

The two jumped at the sound of something kicking the roof above them, Mike’s ears moved as he tilted his head. _A door just opened._ Pause. _It closed._

_We’ll wait a couple minutes._

_Dol, you’ll need to ride me._

_You are barely steady on those feet as is. You cannot carry me._

_You are going to ride me. I’m not leaving you._

_Mike, we are not discussing this._

_You’re right. That’s why you’re going to ride._

_Now is not the time for an argument._

Mike pushed past her to where the door in the ceiling was. _I have no thumbs. Come on._

She joined him and looked up, the ceiling here was lower than the rest of the room but it wasn’t going to be easy to push it open from her level.

 _Dol. No time to argue. Use me to boost yourself up._ Dol looked around the room but there wasn’t another surface she could stand on. At least nothing steady enough that she wouldn’t fall off. She groaned but knew she couldn’t argue with him about it, she moved back as he stepped in front of her and carefully stepped onto his back, balancing herself and pushing against the door carefully, it gave without a fight and flung open.

 _You’re going to have to shift._ She thought quietly as she grabbed the edges of the frame and pulled herself up, using the wall as leverage as she pushed herself up and onto the floor above them.

 _Back up. I can jump._ She hesitated then backed up, watching with fascination as he jumped up through the hole and landed in front of her.

_I like you as a shifter._

_I thought you liked your blonde haired guy._

_We need to focus._ Dol looked around the room; it was small with a table in a corner and a very unused kitchen near a door. She climbed to her feet slowly and headed for the door.

 _I don’t hear anyone._ His thought was hesitant as he followed her to the door; she pushed it open and stepped outside, blinking at the light. _Duck!_ Dol did as told and shrieked when the vampire appeared in front of her then fell back under the weight of a large cat. A snarl filled the air followed by the familiar sound of tearing vampire flesh. Dol barely noticed the vampire’s head rolling across the ground, she was staring at Mike with shock.

_How?_

He turned to face her though he didn’t get off the dead vampire. _I sensed it. Get on my back._ His ears flicked as a growl rumbled low in his chest. _You said follow my instincts so I did. On my back._

Dol growled in agitation but did as he told her, climbing up onto his back and wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her legs into his side. He took off in the direction of the sun, Dol turned her head to look behind them and instantly regretted it. There were three vampires chasing behind them. She barricaded her mind, blocking Bella out so she wouldn’t know what she was planning. _Mike, whatever happens don’t you dare turn back. Swear to me._

_What’re you talking about?_

_Swear to me. If something happens it has to happen to me because you are my biggest weakness._

_I swear._

Dol noticed the vampires getting closer. She knew they wouldn’t stop and she knew her weight was slowing down Mike. She didn’t want to do it; she wanted to go with him. She needed to protect him though. She had to protect him. Tears filled her eyes as she let go of Mike and launched herself off his back, hitting the first vampire with enough force that would’ve killed a human. She sensed the other vampires closing in on her.

 _Dol!_ Mike’s voice was frantic.

_Run! Now!_

She could feel the conflict in his thoughts but he kept running. The last thing she did before a needle pierced her neck and the world sank away was send a final thought to Bella. _Keep him safe._

 

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I paced nervously in Emily’s Diner. I was watching closely, the second something went wrong we would head in. The issue was we were staying back. According to Laurent the cabin that they were holding her in was a ten minute run at the least. Things had been going okay. As much as I hated trusting Alec I needed to trust Dol.

It didn’t make it any easier. I stayed quiet, I didn’t argue with her when she turned him. Jessica was going to kill her when everything was over.

The second she turned and saw the vampires chasing them I knew. Self-sacrifice wasn’t something either of us did often but I knew she would do anything and everything she could to protect Mike. Of all the times she could possibly have learned to be selfless instead of selfish it had to be now.

 _Dol!_ I bolted for the door but was stopped by hands wrapping around me.

“Bella, what happened?”

I growled at Rose when she moved in front of me, trying to pull out of Emmett’s hold on me.

“They have her. They got her. Let me go.”

 _Run! Now!_ Images flashed through my head of the vampires around her then Dol’s mind fell into blackness. _Keep him safe._

I wanted nothing more than to charge out that door and go after Dol. It wasn’t that simple though. I wanted it to be but it wasn’t.

I stopped fighting against him and let an unnecessary breath out. Mike. We needed to help Mike.

“We have to help Mike. Let me go, Emmett. Now.” He hesitated then let go of me. “It’s not time to fight. Not yet.”

I ran through the memories Dol had sent me, they had been moving towards us. I headed out of the diner followed closely by Emmett, Rose, and Laurent and headed east. There wasn’t much in that direction except hills and fields so it wasn’t hard to spot the jaguar running across the land followed closely by a black haired vampire with olive skin I recognized all too well as Felix.

He was gaining close on Mike. _Keep him safe_. The words rang through my head as I ran as fast as I could towards them. However I didn’t get a chance to interfere. Felix was directly beside him, Mike took advantage of the position and jumped on him, angling his body so that he wrapped around Felix. I knew Felix, I’d watched him fight however I don’t think he’d expected this. I hadn’t expected it. There was a snarl as he bit into Felix’s neck followed by the tearing of vampire flesh as they rolled across the ground.

He got to his feet slowly and turned so he was facing us, pain deep in his eyes. We stopped not far in front of him, watching him closely.

“Mike?” I asked hesitantly.

He nodded and looked between all of us.

“Mike?” Rosalie sounded stunned.


	39. Thirty-Nine

We were piled in the living room of Mike and Jessica’s house. To say she was mad was a bit of an understatement. After she chewed me out for letting Dol change him she had resorted to gluing herself to his side and murdering me with her eyes. Laurent was standing outside the front door but it was clear Mike wanted him gone by the way he kept looking at it. Mike, Jessica, Emmett, and Rosalie were sitting on the two couches. I was standing, leaning against the wall across from Rose and Emmet. Mike leaned back and laid his legs on the table in the middle.

“She turned you. How is that possible? Shifters are born, not created.” Rose was looking Mike over warily. It was clear by the way Emmett looked at him with pained eyes that it was bothering him.

“She took Leah’s jaguar essence during the funeral. She used that essence to create me. I don’t understand it. I don’t think she did either.” He looked at the door again as he spoke.

“So is there anything important you want to talk about?” I asked him before Rose could ask anything else about it. I’d watched it happen. It was clear neither of them understood it.

He hesitated, glancing at the door again. “I overheard a bit of conversation. It wasn’t easy to hear but something about the Volturi moving in on the city.”

I heard a sound from Laurent, faintly there. There was a faint sound of him moving away from the house and the even fainter sound of him pressing buttons on his phone. Once I was certain he was out of hearing range I spoke up. “What do you really want to say? He can’t hear.”

“I wasn’t lying. The Volturi plan on moving in. The day after tomorrow. Once Stefan is given a date he will probably bring most the city to the surface.”

“A war.” I frowned as I spoke.

“We can take advantage of it.” Rosalie mumbled as she pulled Emmett’s phone out of his pocket and typed something into it quickly.

“Wait-“ I started to object but she cut me off before I could say anything.

“This is the only chance we have to get out without limited casualties.” Rosalie narrowed her eyes at me. “We won’t be able to release all the humans. Most of them are too far gone. We can save a few. The shifters with the reasonable forms can carry them and the less practical shifters out of the city.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if this backfires? Rose, I want out just as bad as you. If-” She growled and got up from where she was sitting. “Don’t you say you want out as bad as me. I get that you have been through hell for the past eight years. You accepted it though. You accepted the confinement. I never did. I started plotting my freedom when I was a year old.” She pushed past the table until she was standing in front of me. “Then I tasted freedom. The world out there, it’s amazing and beautiful and scary. It’s freedom though. I was free.” She swallowed. “Then I got drug back into this hellish life. You can’t possibly understand what it’s like for me. I was free.” She choked the words out as Emmett joined behind her, carefully pulling him away from me.

I didn’t say anything, what could I say? I honestly couldn’t understand what she was going through. I’d been trapped by the vampires most my life but she’d had freedom. I thought about how I’d felt seeing the sunrise for the first time in eight years.

“I’m sorry, Rose.” I spoke softly. “Even though I can’t know exactly how you feel I can know how you fee. Rose, I’ve been held captive by vampires for most my life. I did accept my imprisonment a long time ago. That is why you need to listen to reason.”

“And you’re the voice of reason? An insane vampire who hardly has accepted the fact that they aren’t human anymore? Actually that’s not even your biggest problem. You’re insane. You’re selfish. And if we make our next move during the war you might lose your sister.” She laughed and shook her head.

“I’m not the voice of reason.” Every word she had said was true, I wasn’t stupid. I was far from it. “I have no right to make this decision. None.” She gave me a look of distrust, I nodded towards Mike over her shoulder. “He can.”

“You aren’t dragging him into anymore of your crap!” Jessica was pissed.

I bit back a growl and spoke carefully. “Not dragging him in. Just his opinion. The best way to keep him safe is to keep him out of the crossfires.”

“Why would you want him kept safe?”

“Dol told me to. I don’t want to. I have to though.”

She snorted. “Right. That’s exactly what I want to hear.”

“Jess.” Mike laid his arm over her shoulder and squeezed her gently. “Dol saved my life.”

“You wouldn’t be in this-“

“Jessica, shut the hell up.” Rose moved around Emmett so that I couldn’t see her expression but the way she spoke and the way Jessica tensed made me certain it wasn’t anything good. “We would be more than thrilled to toss your ass onto the street and not involve you with this. If Mike here wants to run out on it, feel free. Here’s the thing though. You can’t say the both of you wouldn’t be involved with this if Dol hadn’t shown up because we would still be preparing the town for freedom.”

“She got him _tortured_.” Jessica stood from where she was, knocking Mike’s hand away from hers when he tried to grab her.

Rosalie froze. I hadn’t told them about that, Mike must’ve done it in the short time they were alone. Even if it shed light on why she was pissed it was not her place to mention and the agitation on Mike’s face made it clear he hadn’t wanted that information public.

“Jess-“

“No. This shit ends now.”

“Jess.” He grabbed her hand. “Dammit, Jess. Listen to me. I chose to stay involved with Dol. She gave me the option to send her away.”

Hurt flashed across her expression before she turned away from us and looked down at Mike who was looking up at her with a very serious expression. He pulled her down next to him and whispered in her ear. I attempted to drown out what he said but even though I tried I failed. “Jess, I have screwed up a lot since I met her. I really have. We need to get out of here though. We will get out of here. I will get you out of this. If you hate me when it’s all over then I will have to live with it. I’m going to help them though.”

Jessica stood up from where she was. “Fine. If it gets you killed don’t come crying to me.” The tears and choked way she said it gave away that she didn’t mean it.

Mike watched her leave the room, the pain in his eyes was clear but he didn’t chase her. “She’ll forgive you.” Rosalie said quietly.

“She won’t. She’s out of forgiveness.” He shook his head and got up.

“I’m sorry.” I felt gnawing guilt for what had happened to them.

“It’s not your fault.” His eyes met mine briefly. “But I do blame you. For some of it.” That wasn’t what I’d expected to hear. “I think you were both right.”

All too familiar pain tore across me, at first I thought it was a flashback but the shock and scream that tore through my head at the same instance told me different. I dropped to my knees and grabbed my arm. The pain was more vivid than anything that had ever been sent through our connection and it didn’t help that it broke the memories of my own torture through the walls I had built.

 _Bella!_ I was in my head, inches from the wall I could hide in. Another shot of agony tore through me as a knife pierced my flesh…or was it hers? Memories. Memories and reality. What was happening? I reached out to touch the wall.

“Bella!” I couldn’t. I jerked back into reality and cut off the connection between myself and Dol. I was breathing hard though it was unnecessary and I was certain my heart would’ve been beating a hundred miles a minute if it could. My eyes burned with tears I couldn’t shed as I tried to barricade agonizing memories. “Bella!” I opened my eyes slowly and was met with Rose’s worried eyes.

Wall. Burry it. Can’t remember. Won’t remember. I swallowed and looked around. I was on a couch now and Laurent was standing by the front door watching us. Rosalie was sitting on the table, leaning over me. My eyes focused on her pulse in her neck and the burning in my throat made itself clear. Not Rose. I can’t lose control now. It’ll kill one of us.

I stopped breathing and looked away, closing my eyes tight trying to focus on anything that wasn’t the sound of her heart beating, her blood calling. “Rosalie move back. Now.” I growled out with the limited oxygen I had in my lungs. She wasn’t stupid. I listened as she got up and moved around the table and away from me. I tried to wall it but my brain was scattered, the heartbeats. There were three sets of heartbeats in the house, one of them more tempting than the other two.

“Emmett.” Two sets of footsteps came down the hall shortly after she spoke.

“How long have I?” I asked, careful to save the oxygen. I needed to talk. I needed to distract myself.

“It’s been an hour since you freaked out.” Rosalie spoke carefully; I could hear her moving further away though. She must’ve been at the other corner of the living room at this point.

“She needs to feed, Emmett.” Rose spoke quietly. I heard one set of footsteps stop.

“Bella, can’t you wall it?” If only I could. The burning…the hearts…

“I can’t wall it.” Footsteps connected to a heartbeat came towards me.

“Mike, what’re you doing?”

“Being dinner.”

“You aren’t on SH right now. You can’t be dinner for a newborn.”

Those footsteps stopped and I growled with agitation, trying to get my mind to focus enough to build the wall. The heartbeats were so alluring…

“Hold on.” Mike finally said as footsteps moved back to where the third heartbeat was, I listened to the sound of a door opening and closing. “I know you’re awake, Jess.”

“I’m not talking to you, Mike.”

“She needs blood.”

“Let her sink her fangs into your neck.”

“I’m not on SH.”

“The blonde isn’t a vamp. She can-“

“She isn’t affected by SH. Jess, look.” I heard the sound of something moving and someone, my mind wandered to the nearby heartbeat. _Thump. Thump. Thump._ I was on my feet before I knew what was happening and across the room in the following second. Rosalie didn’t get a chance to scream before my arms were around her shoulders and my teeth were in her neck.

Blood. There were arms around me, trying to pull me off her but I needed to feed. I had to feed. I needed to drain her. This blood was nothing like what I’d had before. It was pure and amazing and heavenly. Sweeter than anything imaginable. Something tore at the back of my mind, screaming at me to stop. I didn’t want to. Then there was a heavy weight wrapped around me that shocked me enough to cause me to drop her knock me onto my back.

Sharp teeth were in my neck and claws dug into my chest. “Bella!” Rose’s voice was exhausted but it did pierce my brain. Oh God. What had I done?

I stopped struggling –now that I realized I was struggling- against the weight of what I now knew was Mike in his jaguar form. “Rose.” I whispered and looked past the jaguar that was holding me down, she was leaning against the wall with half closed eyes, and Emmett was crouched in front of her blocking most of my view of her.

“Don’t apologize.” She laughed weakly. “You’re not the first vampire to nearly kill me.” She smiled weakly as Mike climbed off me carefully. Emmett looked over his shoulder at me, growling lowly. “Emmett, now is not the time.”

“She tried to kill you.”

“So did you.” He flinched and looked back at her as I slowly sat up, reinforcing the walls. “What happened, Bella? What set you off?” She closed her eyes and sighed softly.

“I…” The problem was I wasn’t sure. When I looked back on the memories of what had happened I wasn’t sure if what I had experienced was actually Dol being tortured and it triggering my memories or if I was losing my grip on reality. I got up and walked to the front door, Laurent hadn’t moved from where he was standing before I’d attacked Rosalie but the second my hand touched the handle he grabbed my arm. “I’m not running. I need to think.” He let go of me and I pulled the door open, going outside and looking up at the sun, I ignored the fact that Laurent had followed me outside.

The sun. Freedom for the sun. It wasn’t the same now as it had been when I first arrived but when it all boiled down to it I was going to get free for the sun. Maybe live on a beach. I sighed and focused my mind, making sure the walls were strong. I needed to know whether I was losing my grip on reality. If I was then reopening the connection between us would do nothing. If I wasn’t then…

I didn’t want to think about how close I was to snapping. Neither option was promising though.

I shook my head and touched the connection between myself and Dol and reopened it. Silence. Dead silence. She was sedated again. That didn’t answer my question. Was she really being tortured earlier or was I losing my grip on reality? I groaned and turned, pushing past Laurent and heading through the door. Mike was sitting on the couch, Rosalie was lying on the other couch asleep and Emmett was sitting on the table, watching her sleep. The second we reentered the house his eyes shot up to me and he bared his teeth.

“I’m sorry, Emmett.” I sat down in front of the door after closing it, Laurent returned to his spot next to the door.

“You could’ve killed her.” He growled quietly.

“Are you blaming me for something that I can’t control?” I growled lowly.

“I’m blaming you for giving her a false sense of comfort. We all almost forgot you were a newborn.”

“That’s not my fault, Emmett. You can’t blame me for it.”

“Will the two of you shut up?” We moved our focus to Mike who was glaring at us. “We have other things to deal with. What the Hell happened, Bella?”

I didn’t answer at first, how could I? I wasn’t sure what had happened. “I don’t know.” I finally said with a sigh.

“Something happened, Bella. What happened?”

“I honestly don’t know. Either I’m losing my grip on reality or…Dol is…she’s being tortured….or was…”

“She was.” He didn’t look at me but the way he said it was clear enough.

“You heard her?”

“At the same time you started screaming I heard her shout for you.”

“How?”

“Shapeshifters. We talked a bit after she changed me.”

“We need to go back to the city.” I changed the subject, I could feel the wall that held my memories of Kachiri’s torture trying to break loose. My eyes moved to Rosalie as her eyes slowly opened and she stretched out.

“You guys are loud.” She mumbled tiredly, her eyes moving between myself and Emmett.

“Sorry.” He touched her face.

“If you ever try and kill me again, Bella. I will kill you.” She looked past him and narrowed her eyes at me.

“I can live with that.”

Her eyes moved to Laurent. “So it looks like we’re going back to the city. I’m assuming Stefan wants to talk to Mike about what he heard.”

“I’m not an idiot.” Laurent looked between us thoughtfully. “I overheard your conversation earlier. If I stay here I’m going to die to either rebelling shapeshifters or the Volturi. I am going to take you back to the city then disappear tomorrow.” He pushed out the door, leaving us all silent and stunned.


	40. Forty

Mike was talking to Stefan and I was alone in my room. Actually alone. Laurent had taken off as he’d said he would. Rosalie had made it clear to me that she and Emmett were spending what might be their very last night alone which left me without anyone to talk to. I kept checking my connection with Dol, wishing she’d wake up but also thankful she wasn’t awake.

I jumped when my door opened.

“You aren’t supposed to be alone, Isabella.” Edward’s voice filled my ears. _No. Are you kidding me?_ Of course it was him. Of all of the possible creatures that could’ve showed up it was him.

“A city full of vampires who know I’m not allowed to be alone yet here I am. There should really be a tighter leash on my guards.” I didn’t bother looking towards the door. It didn’t matter. Not anymore. I lay on my side, staring at the wall, I felt him move across the room so he was sitting by me.

“I snapped last time I was here.”

“Is that an apology?” I rolled my eyes.

“I have nothing to apologize for. I’m just stating a fact. I snapped.” He put pressure on my shoulder and I rolled over to look at him, the look in his eyes unsettled me but not the way it had before, maybe it was because I wasn’t as scared or something else.

“Why are you here, Edward?”

“You saw Renesmee.”

“Why does it matter?”

“What did she show you?”

“Her hallucinations. She said she has been down there for fifty years?”

He looked away from me. “I love her. She’s my daughter. I will never stop loving her.”

“Edward, you need to let her go. Let her out of there.”

His eyes moved back to me, a growl escaping him. “I won’t lose her.”

“You need to let her out before she loses any chance at sanity.”

He growled lowly then was on me, face inches from mine, my entire body pinned flat now. Fear spiked through me, reminding me of everything I had been warned. He was unhealthily obsessed. Everyone had warned me. “You cannot tell me what I am supposed to do with my daughter. You cannot tell me what is best for her.”

“Something has stopped you. You’ve had every chance in the world. Something has stopped you from hurting me. You said it yourself. You told me I was enough trouble to keep in the dungeon. I didn’t know why then but I do now. You wanted me to get her out.”

He searched my face; the look in his eyes sent mixed feelings, some I couldn’t quite identify. He would either do something horrible or he would let me go. “You’re planning to escape?”

“I didn’t say that.” His weight increased on me causing me to growl at him.

“Isabella, you are a terrible liar.” He leaned in closer. “I have every reason to go to Stefan and get every single one of you and your friends executed for conspiring to escape.” Then he was kissing me, it was awkward and terrifying and exhilarating. It was so much more than what existed in my fantasy life and scarier than anything I’d have ever imagined because this was the man who had an unhealthy obsession with women like me. He pulled away from me and was by the door out of my room in a split second. “You were right.” I was beyond confused. “I want you to get my daughter out of here.”

“Edward.” He turned to leave. “Stay.” This was probably one of the dumbest things I could’ve done but I needed it.

“Why?”

“Stay because I don’t want to be alone.” He turned to face me again.

“You are a fascinating woman, Isabella. Are you saying you trust me?”

“I would be a moron to trust you. Every fiber of my being tells me to run.” I probably should’ve shut up there. I should’ve stopped talking.

“I am happy I didn’t drain you dry. You keep on surprising me.” I really should’ve shut up. I needed to. I was doing something stupid.

“You’ve seen in my head. I lived in a false reality and fell in love with a man with your face.”

“You think you’re going to die tomorrow.”

“Possibly.”

“Isabella.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve wanted to do so many things to you since the second I saw you. I will never care about you. I will never think about caring about you.”

“I’m not asking you to care about me. Now get over here.” He grinned at that, the look in his eyes sending a chill down my spine.

“You fascinate me.” Then he was kissing me again.

 

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I wouldn’t say I regretted my decisions. If I died freeing the humans at least my last night had been enjoyable. I was also insane so there was that. It made it easy to trick my mind into thinking that I was with the Edward in my head rather than the ass from the real world.

Each thing I did following it I noted as a possible last. Possible last shower. Possible last time through the hall. It all boiled down to possible lasts. Tomorrow we were going to be in a battle. Tomorrow we might die.

I stood in the shower room, I had never been self-conscious when it came to showering in the group showers we used but my mind was active again and I was alone again allowing me to notice the faint scars across my skin.

I closed my eyes as the water ran through my hair and across my skin, trying to think of anything that wasn’t the scars. _Breathe, Bella. You’ll get through this._ I told myself, wishing Dol was there to help steady my thoughts.

“I might’ve been wrong.” It didn’t scare me, I’d heard her approach.

“What about, Rose?”

“You are completely insane.”

“For what?”

“You slept with him.”

I sighed softly and turned my head towards the doorway. “Why does it matter?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She spoke softly as she walked to the showerhead next to me and leaned forward to turn the water on.

“Why are you bringing it up then?” I didn’t want to have this conversation.

“Why did you?” She asked as she tested the water, adjusting the temperature.

“I might die tomorrow.”

“That’s not why you did it.” I felt her watching me out of the corner of her eyes as she stepped into the water.

“If you don’t think that’s why I did it why are you asking me?”

“You slept with him because you were lonely.” She stated, grabbing a bottle of shampoo off the shelf. I washed the soap out of my hair quickly and headed towards the door, grabbing a towel off of the table next to it. “Bella, don’t-“

“We aren’t having this conversation.” I growled as I wrapped it around me.

“Okay, we won’t. I’ll meet you in the dining hall. And Bella.” I looked over my shoulder at her. “Don’t stress over the scars. Some vampires will see them as a threat.” I smiled lightly at that.

“Thank you.”

 

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Most all of the vampires that patrolled the doors in the dining hall were gone leaving Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, myself, and Mike at the table. “There’re too many variables.” Alice was rubbing her temples, an annoyed expression on her face. “I can’t _see_.”

“Maybe it’s better we don’t know our fate.” I said thoughtfully as the door that lead to the garden opened, I glanced up to see who it was. Wonderful. Edward joined us at the table.

“So how go the plans?” He smirked, I growled lowly.

“You _told_ him?” Several voices asked at the same time, voices just a bit too loud causing some of the others to glance our way.

“Oh relax, Freedom Fighters. She paid me well to keep my mouth shut to Stefan.” I growled at him and he laughed.

“Fuck you, Edward.”

“Already done that.” Three of the five other people stared at me. He rolled his eyes. “Isabella, you are such a modest woman. I would’ve never guessed that last night.” One more word from him and I would probably rip his head off. Or try. I glared at him. “I’m not here to start a fight.”  
“Hold on a second. You…you slept with him?” Alice was staring at me still.

“For a girl who can see the future you sure are out of the loop.” He rolled his eyes and focused on her for a second. “You’ve been too focused on the future of the rest of the city to make sure I didn’t go after her? I’m ashamed, Ali. Of course watching the future in the past hasn’t done much good. I could see why you didn’t bother.”

“That isn’t-“

“Ness has been pushing past her hallucinations so she can help you. I talked to her briefly after I left you earlier, Isabella. The shifters are prepared except…” He paused. “How are you going to solve the SH issue down there? There are impractical animals to have wandering the halls.” Alice narrowed her eyes at Edward, distrust clear. “You were there when she was born. You know I care about her. You know I want her safe.” No one spoke but he got his answer from someone’s mind. He nodded slowly. “Tanya. Are you certain she can be trusted?”

“Bella, can you please shield our minds?” Rosalie asked, glaring at Edward. I had forgotten I could do that so I did it. I allowed my shield to expand over the others, it was strange how easy it was.

Edward shot a glare at me. “That’s an interesting gift, Isabella. One I don’t particularly like.”

“So tomorrow.” I changed the subject which earned an annoyed growl from Edward. “Everything is planned, right?”

“Stefan is bringing most the city to the surface.” Mike finally said. “There won’t be many vampires down here.”

“I’ll be brought up for the battle. You will probably be ordered to come as well, Emmett.” Edward looked thoughtful. “I do have an old friend here in the city. Very few people know about his particular ability but…he’ll clean up once everyone is gone.”

“Benjamin?” Alice looked surprised. “He has an ability?”

“I can’t read your mind but you can nose around in my plans? That hardly seems fair.” He looked at me out of the corner of my eye.

“We will kill you, Edward. We have no qualms about it at this point.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“That was only a half plan. You are really watching my future too close, Ali. As much as I wish otherwise I will not lay another hand on Isabella.” His eyes moved to mine. “If I honestly had intentions of harming her left she would not be here right now. Don’t think it doesn’t piss me off that my plans changed though. I will be with Benjamin if you need me.” He stood up from where he was sitting and headed towards a door I hadn’t seen used before.

“I’m not going to talk about it.” I stated once before anyone could say anything.

“The shifters have been off SH for long enough now. If what he said was right Renesmee will keep-”

“Shut up.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw it again, a tail sticking out of the wall at the other end of the dining hall. The first time I’d seen it I’d thought it was my lapsing sanity. This time I knew what it was. I stood and moved across the cafeteria towards the tail.

“What is that?” Rosalie’s voice carried behind me as the group got up.

“Oh shit.” Mike’s voice was full of tension as a light growl escaped him.

“Jake. That’s your name right? Get out here.” The tail vanished into the wall, a few seconds later a wolf emerged from it, watching me closely with its teeth bared.

“Who is she talking to?” Emmett asked.

“Just like Dol.” Alice mumbled with interest as the footsteps behind me approached, we stopped a few inches in front of him.

“Why are you here?” He growled at me, standing up so that he was taller. “Why are you here!”

He shifted into his human, remaining spectral. “You aren’t like us. Why can you see me?”

“Why are you here, mutt?” I growled lowly. “Where is my sister?”

“I am not a mutt!” Then there was a wolf on me, several of the humans in the cafeteria screamed at the sudden appearance of a large wolf, teeth tore into my shoulder followed by arm getting ripped out of its socket. Someone grabbed the wolf and pulled it off of me. I hissed and lunged for it, someone else wrapped their arms around me before I could sink my teeth into the animal. It didn’t matter though because once the wolf realized it’s predicament it changed back into its spectral form and backed away from the group throwing Alice off balance from her grip on it.

“You can’t fight me.” He growled after he shifted.

I picked my arm up off the floor and pushed it back into socket, allowing the venom there to reattach the limb. “Why are you here?”

“My father is having me watch the city. Listen in on everything.”

“Who is your father?”

“Caius. His name is Caius.” He growled as Rosalie moved back behind me.

“Caius is your father?” I stared at him.

“He raised me from a pup.”

“People aren’t pups. People are kids.”

“I was a wolf before I got changed. I was nothing more than a mindless wild animal. Kachiri opened my eyes. Gave me rational thought.”

“You’re very rational.” He growled. “That’s why you attacked my sister and attacked him. Because you’re rational.” I watched out of the corner of my eye as Mike moved through the others so he was standing next to me. The tension was basically visible. “You said Caius was your father?”

“Yes.” He bared his teeth. “He raised me and loved me.”

“He didn’t love you. You were his pet.” I pulled the shield off my mind and hoped Edward was nearby. _Edward, SH. We need a syringe of SH. Now._

“You’re lying!” He was on the edge, close to shifting. I could see it.

“Vampires don’t have kids. In the entire time you were in Volterra I never saw you. If Caius loved you he would’ve let you out of whatever cage he kept you in. You were his pet. Nothing more.” I heard a door opening behind us at the same time a wolf came through the air and crashed into me, sinking its teeth into my neck.

“Bella!” Something hit the wolf causing it to go limp on me and shift into its human form, I pushed it off as Edward came into view with a syringe in his hand. He stabbed it into the neck of the wolf earning a sound of protest.

“What is it?” Emmett asked as I moved back to my feet.

“It’s a Spectral shifter.” Mike stated warily.

“Spectral shifters don’t change into animals.”

“He’s not a normal Spectral shifter. He was created by Kachiri using her old Spectral shapeshifter.” I ran through the memories as I spoke. “He’s loyal to them. They made sure of it.”

“If he’s not normal are we certain the SH will work?” Edward stood up as he spoke and moved away from the group.

“We don’t know anything about him but if he’s been lurking in the walls he’s probably been listening to God knows what.”

“Tell Stefan.” I stated.

“What?” Rose asked with confusion.

“When whoever he’s been taking information back to realizes he’s missing, they know things. We can’t have them move in on the city. We need Stefan on the surface. Go tell Stefan we need to move tonight.”

“What about him?” Rosalie asked as Edward headed for a door.

“Lock him in the dungeon.” I said without thought.

“If we lock him down there…”

“We’ll leave him for the stragglers. Let them deal with him.” I got up. “Mike, we’re going to the dungeon. We’re going to talk to the shifters.” I picked the humanized wolf up carefully, putting him across my shoulder.

“So we’re doing this?” Alice asked. “What about Dol?”

“I will find her.” I headed for the door that lead to the hall of tunnels that would take me to the dungeon.

I heard Mike following me. “This is risky, Bella.”

“This whole thing is risky. Mike, tomorrow when everything happens. You have to help get the humans and shifters out of the city.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to find Dol. If it kills me I will find her.”

“You’re sacrificing yourself?”

“I don’t plan on dying. I’m also not going to get a bunch of humans and shifters killed to find my sister.”

“Bella-“

“I have to make sure you live. I should’ve made you and Jessica leave the city but I’m too selfish to deal with this without someone else who cares about her wellbeing around.”

We stopped in front of the door to the dungeon. “I’ll get them out then come back for you.”

“Don’t.” I growled out.

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

“If it gets you killed I’ll kill you.”

A large screeching noise shot through the halls, I heard the thudding of footsteps coming from the dungeon as the door flung open and two vampires ran past us, not acknowledging us or the unconscious body we held.

“It’s started.” Mike said quietly.


	41. Forty-One

I was prying open the bars on the cages, the dungeon was full of shifters in both their animal and human forms, the ones in their human forms didn’t seem to notice that they were undressed or they didn’t care. I’d closed Jake in the far back next to Renesmee’s cage, he was still unconscious which was useful because I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.

I’d found a few candles in one of the many cabinets near the door and lit them up, placing them at separate parts of the dungeon so that the humans could see. Mike was checking the injured shifters and humans over, using a bag of Carlisle’s blood that had been conveniently left here by Edward to heal any open wounds. This wasn’t full proof. Most of the shifters were wary about interacting with me because I was a vampire but none of them had tried to kill me, yet.

“Bella, we needed that extra day.” Mike finally said after we had worked silently for a while. I didn’t respond, instead staying silent as I opened every one of the cages until I was in front of Renesmee’s again. She was looking towards me but her eyes didn’t meet mine.

“I’m going to stay.” She spoke quietly.

“What?” I sat down in front of her, prying the bars between us apart.

“I can’t be out there.” She finally met my eyes. “I’ve got no reason to be out there. I prefer it here.” She held out her hand which I took.

When she looked to the right she saw her mother who smiled at her and spoke softly. “It’s okay, baby girl. You can go with her.” _I don’t want to leave her, Bella._

“Just because you leave her it doesn’t mean you’ll leave her behind.”

She pulled her hand away. “If you could choose to stay here and return to the fantasy life you created or go and face reality which would you choose?” Her words gnawed at me, I wanted to return to that fantasy life but Dol needed me.

“Dol needs me. I can’t sink into my insanity.”

“No one needs me. The humans and shifters can get out of here without my help. I have no one waiting for me.”

“How about your father? What about Alice?”

“They don’t need me.” She smiled sadly. “Bella, if they needed me I would be free. I wouldn’t have spent my entire life down here.” She touched my hand again and sent me images of the times she’d been visited by Alice and Edward. Not nearly enough. _I’m happy here. With my mom. Even if I left I would be in the same position. I will never be happy with reality._

“You can’t know that.”

“Go. Without me.” She backed away from the bars until she was leaning against the wall and closed her eyes.

I wanted to argue with her but the truth was I couldn’t. I had no reason to. There was movement out of the corner of my eye as the unconscious creature started to wake up.

“Bella?” I looked up as a tall guy with brown eyes and dark skin with black hair walked up to me, I slowly got to my feet and nodded slightly towards him. I couldn’t help but notice he was missing an eye.

“Have we met?”

“No. I did meet Dol though.”

“When?”  
“I was the shifter that told her how to shift. My name is Quil.”

“I’ve heard your name.”

“I was the alpha of a large pack before Kachiri and her vampires came in and killed most of us.”

“Did you at least take a good number of them out?” I couldn’t help but look at the place where his missing eye was. What had happened?

“She used me to order them to lie down and die.” He grimaced. “I’d never used my Alpha voice so none of them had a clue how to resist. They tried. When they killed my daughter Claire I broke her hold over me and lost an eye in the process. That woman is hard to kill. She’s lost her head more than once.”

“Leah killed her.” Something about what he said bothered me though.”

“I hope you’re right. Otherwise we’re about to flee the city and bring an army of shapeshifters down on your friends.” He turned and shifted, strolling to Mike’s side and watching as he put blood on a cut in a young girl’s arm.

A low growl behind me turned my attention to Jake who was rising to his feet. “What did you do?” I moved to the front of his cage and watched as he tried to shift, a whimper escaping him. “What did you do!” He turned to face me and jumped at the bars, trying to grab me through them but missing as I easily dodged it.

“The same thing Zafrina did to my sister. Where is she?” He whimpered, fear flashing through his eyes.

“I’m not supposed to be this! I want my body back!” I actually had to feel bad because even though he’d done some really bad things he wasn’t human. He wasn’t supposed to be human. We’d trapped him in a body that didn’t belong to him.

“We can get you back to your wolf body but we need Dol.”

He glanced over my shoulder as someone came up behind me, I didn’t check to see who but I could tell it was an animal. “Who is Dol?” He finally asked, glancing nervously between myself and whoever was behind me.

“Blue haired girl, weird eyes.”

“Um…I don’t…No color. The girl Zafrina had me attack?”

“Yes.” I spoke carefully.

“She’s in the house outside the city where Zafrina and her sister were-“

“Her sister?” Mike’s voice came from where he had been helping the girl but footsteps approaching us told me he was coming towards us. “She told me Senna left.”

“Kachiri. She called her Kachiri.”

“That’s not possible.” I froze as images of Kachiri flashed through my mind, memories and pain spiking across me.

“Bella.” Mike grabbed my arm and turned me. “Wall.” I closed my eyes and forced the memories behind the wall, I could feel myself shaking violently. She couldn’t. It wasn’t possible. She can’t. No. Not possible.

 _Dol!_ The thought hit a wall. No. She can’t be alive. “Leah killed her!” I growled and turned to the cage. “You’re lying! She can’t be alive!” He cowered and backed away until his back was against the corner.

“I’m not. I…please. I just want my body back. Please.” Mike used his hold on my arm to turn me to face him again.

“Bella. He has no reason to lie.”

“He has every reason to lie.”

He looked past me. “He does. But he won’t.” I finally noticed who it was that had joined me, a chocolate brown wolf with Quil’s eyes.

Quil looked at the wolf in the cage, ears twitching and eyes flashing with different emotions. I looked back into the cage to see Jake’s head bowed slightly as he looked at Quil. “I promise.” He spoke carefully then paused. “I will.” A bit more silence. “It won’t be easy.” He swallowed and glanced at me then back at the wolf. “You’re certain?” He whimpered and nodded. “Anything.” I looked back at Quil as he shifted into his human form.

“He’ll cooperate with us.” He looked at me.

“How can you be certain?”

“If he lied it would get him killed. Even if he’s loyal to the others he’s not stupid. Survival is a base instinct of all creatures.” He looked behind me again. “Can you tell us anything else?”

“I was sent here to listen for important information and take it back to my father.”

“Is Aro with them?” I asked him.

“I haven’t seen him since I was young.” He looked between myself and Quil, whimpering softly. “The girl. The one you asked about. I remember something else. You said her name was Dol?” I nodded. “Zafrina’s sister…Kachiri. She talked about her briefly. Said something about revenge…” He looked at Quil, whimpering softly. “Please.”

“Bella, let him out.” Quil said after a minute, I looked at him, narrowing my eyes.

“Why?”

“He’s as much of a danger as the humans in here. He can’t fight in this form.” He turned away from us. “He’s not a threat. Let him out.” I shared an unsure look with Mike, debating whether or not it was a good idea. Quil was right though. He wasn’t a real threat unless he could shift and if he was trapped in this form he couldn’t do much. I finally gave in and pulled his cage open. He glanced nervously between me and Mike before slipping out of the cage and scurrying up behind Quil.

“I think Quil’s right.” Mike said quietly.

“I don’t like this. If he’s right about Kachiri…”

“Every one of us is a threat if she finds us.” He looked at the humans and shifters that were piled near the entrance. “Should we try something else?”

“No. We’ll move forward either way.”

Quil looked over his shoulder at us. Jake sat down next to him and lay his head against the wolf’s side.

“Let’s do this.” I moved forward so I was in front of the group of animals and people. The humans and shifters in their human forms were standing next to different animals. For each shifter in animal form there were almost enough humans for there to be two humans or shifters in human form on their back. There were a few leftover people that would leave some of the shifters with a third person.

Quil was sitting there, watching over the encounter, the shifters in their human form moving so that the spare people that were younger or smaller were put together.

One of the smaller wolves looked at the two humans who were standing next to him and whined softly. Quil lifted his head, moving his gaze to the wolf who dropped its ears and bowed its head.

Jake moved away from Quil as he shifted into his human form. “Everyone’s ready.” He looked between Mike and me. “You are coming with us, right?”

“I’m separating when we arrive on the surface.”

“I’m coming with you, Bella.” I growled at Mike.

“You’re going to get Jessica and leave. I am not arguing with you about this.” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“You’re going to get yourself killed if you go after her alone.”

“That’s my choice.” I snapped at him and pushed through the others. “Let’s go. The city is probably clear by now.”

“Mike, take them out of the city.” Quil’s voice held power when he spoke, a sound came from Mike and when I looked behind me to see Mike had shifted into his jaguar form and was heading forward, his head low, agitation clear in his face. I looked at Quil with shock. He’d mentioned an Alpha Voice and implied that it took the will of other’s away. “He’s an Imprintee. I understand why she wants him safe. We will do anything to keep Imprintees alive.”

I shared a look with Mike as he moved past me towards the door. The anger was clear in his expression. “I’m sorry, Mike. I promised Dol.”

He growled lowly, the humans got on the backs of the wolves and tigers and other creatures that filled the room. They wrapped their arms around each other and the necks of the animals.

“I need you to follow him out of the city. All of you.” Quil stood up straight, looking at all of them. “Protect each other. If you catch even the faintest scent of Kachiri from today you need to run in the other direction.” There were a few sounds of acknowledgement from the otherwise quiet group. Everyone was scared. “I’m coming with you, Bella. You can’t do this alone.”

I nodded absently, looking at the back where Renesmee was watching us from inside her cage. She smiled sadly and waved.

I stepped in front of Mike, going up the stairwell that lead to the dungeon exit. I pushed the door open and moved out of the way as the group filed out, most of them cringing at the light the second it hit their eyes. I spread my shield out over their minds, encasing each one. I silently hoped it was enough to stop Kachiri if they found her but felt it in my gut. It wouldn’t work. What she did went further than just the mind.

Quil was the last one up with Jake was riding on his back. I knew why we were bringing him with us rather than sending him with the rest. Even with all the reassurances he wasn’t trustworthy. It would be safer to keep him with us.

Mike threw one final hostile glare over his shoulder before they took off down the hallway and rounded a corner, effectively clearing our line of sight.

“We need to get the rest of the humans out.” Jake stated after Quil looked at me.

“I think Alice and the others had a plan for it.”

“Why are we letting them go ahead of us?” Jake asked, I had to assume he was speaking on behalf of Quil. The tension rolled off of both of them in waves. They were terrified.

“I know if I’d gone with Mike he would’ve kept arguing with me about staying and helping. I would’ve ended up giving in.”

He nodded and finally after I couldn’t hear the sounds of the others moving we moved through the city, quietly, it was dead silent. No heartbeats were nearby and no footsteps could be heard. The city was empty. It was…ominous. No sound. Nothing. Stefan had pulled almost the entire city to the surface. Why had no one come looking for us?

After a minute the first howl of agony tore through the air and Quil charged forward, barely avoiding knocking Jake off his back. I took off after him, after not long I picked up on the sound of bones breaking, claws raking through flesh. It was wrong. Something had gone horribly wrong. I knew the second the smell of human blood filled my senses. We went through the dining hall door and my heart sank.


	42. Forty-Two

My heart sank at the sight before me. Every shifter we had sent out had turned on their humans. The ones that were shifters in human form had tried to fight back but it was clear they hadn’t stood a chance. There were bodies everywhere, on the tables, on the floor. At the far end, near the entrance. Kachiri stood. She was missing her right eye, her left hand was gone, and her right hand was missing three fingers. She was covered in scars and patches of her skin were gone. She didn’t need any of that though. We’d sent her anything she could have possibly needed. We’d sent her an army. The shifters that hadn’t been killed in the slaughter turned to face us and moved in.

“Stop.” They stopped at the command from Kachiri. I barely heard her though. Ice ran down my spine, fear kept me frozen in the place I’d been when I stepped through the door. I barely noticed Quil freezing in place next to me, a growl escaping him. “Hello, Isabella.” Images flashed through my mind as she spoke. Wall. Wall. Wall. I could barely focus on the room in front of me though. It took all my willpower to hold those memories back. The back wall…the one I could retreat into. “Why don’t you say something to your dear sister, Daula?”

“Bella!” Dol’s voice pierced through me. Dol. I focused on the scene in front of me again. In front of her Mike was laying on his back with his stomach exposed, fear clear in his demeanor.

Standing next to Kachiri, just behind her right side, was Dol. Her face was covered in scars, her clothes were torn up and from what I could see of her there were more scars and burns also imbedded in her arms and other parts of her skin. The scars on her sent memories flashing of what had happened to me, she had tortured Dol. Anger replaced the fear. She’d tortured her.

“Get away from her.” I growled as I moved forward, the shifters that lined the room made a move for me.

“Back off.” The shifters stopped, allowing me to move through them towards her. “If you want to kill me, Isabella. Feel free to try. It clearly worked for Leah.”

I bared my teeth at her. “How did you live?”

“My body wasn’t burned. When my sisters fled the city they took me with them.” I now noticed Zafrina who was standing next to her, her eyes full of anger and fury. “They thought their attempts to revive me had failed. Senna left and Zafrina chose to avenge me.” She smirked. “Then your amazing sister here does the most amazing thing in the world. She takes the essence of my killer and puts it in her boyfriend.”

Dol’s eyes met mine briefly, pain and anger running through them. I knew what she was saying with them. “Save him.”

I moved my gaze to Mike then to Quil who was tense, eyes down low. Jake was no longer on his back, he’d backed away so that his back was pressed against the wall. “You destroyed my biggest achievement.” Kachiri said with annoyance. “Jakie. Pretty boy. Try and shift.” He yelped and dropped to his knees. A whimper escaped him and I couldn’t help but run to his side, keeping a close eye out of my peripheral on Kachiri who was watching with amusement. His skin rolled as a low cry of pain escaped him.

“Kachiri! Leave him alone!” I snarled at her.

“Defending the one who ratted out your little escape? All these humans, Isabella. Their deaths are on his hands. Yet you defend him. You don’t know him. You don’t know what he’s done. Let me show you.” Images flashed in front of my eyes, teeth tearing through human flesh. Blood. Dead bodies. Dead shifters. Dead humans. So many bodies. So many bodies. “Isabella, that is the monster you’re defending. Don’t get me wrong. He’s been an enjoyable pet. Now he’s not.” She made a faint sound, I barely had a chance to react before Quil was on me, his teeth in my neck, ready to tear my head off if I moved.

I screamed as I heard a howl of pain as a lion landed on Jake, tearing into him violently. The angle Quil had me in forced me to watch as the lion bit first into his chest then into his stomach. It ripped into his stomach and tore out his insides, the sounds of agony Jake made would forever be imbedded into my brain. I had to close my eyes, I wanted to cry. We’d caused this. We’d let this happen. If we hadn’t injected him…

“Dol!” I shouted her name, a sob escaping me. I heard the sound of the rest of the shifters moving in on me, circling me.

“Let her up.” Kachiri’s voice filled my ears. I buried the memories of what had just happened. I couldn’t dwell. I couldn’t. If I did I would fall. I would lose it. _Dol. Have to save Dol._

Quil’s teeth left my neck, I stood slowly. I would’ve attacked the shifters, gone after them all. I wanted to. I couldn’t. If I did it would get Dol killed. I had to control myself. I needed to. It was hard to do though.

“I don’t like you, Isabella. You fascinated me at first. The human that could see the spectral. Now you have chased myself and my sisters out of the city. You nearly got me killed. I did succeed in one task though. I broke your mind. I broke you.” She growled lowly. “You are on the edge of falling apart. If your sister died what would that do to you? Even better. What if you killed her?” Then Dol moved past her as Mike rolled over and got to his feet. Kachiri couldn’t and didn’t fight for herself.

She was going to send Mike and Dol after me. The shifters around me moved to block the doors. The ones that didn’t block the doors moved to become a barrier between us and Kachiri and her sister. She climbed onto his back, he growled lowly as they moved towards me.

I backed away as they moved towards me.

“Dol. Mike. Please.” Mike growled at me then the large jaguar was running towards me, he lunged and I ducked, he hit the table behind me, I turned around just in time to see him turn around and duck his head low.

“This isn’t nearly as interesting as I’d hoped for. Feel free to talk, Dol.”

“Bella! Please!” Mike lunged for me again, I dodged the attack again. “You have to fight back!”

“If I’m not careful I’ll kill one or both of you!” He snarled and lunged again, this time I didn’t move fast enough though, teeth sank into my arm and ripped it from its socket as he flew past me.

“I’m sorry. So sorry.” Her voice came out a choked sob.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

Dol was trapped in her own body. Kachiri had given her the ability to speak but nothing more. She’d been stabbed, sliced, torn at and healed by Kachiri. She’d held through. She hadn’t fought, she had held strong. Even when Kachiri had shown her face she’d held strong. Bella and Mike were safe. Then Kachiri had brought her into the city and everything had gone horribly wrong. The humans. The ones they’d tried to free. Kachiri had had them all killed. Not because she wanted to. She had done it because Dol had wanted them to live.

“Mike, fight it. Please.” Bella moved her gaze to the jaguar beneath Dol. “You can fight it.”

Dol tried not to notice what was happening behind Bella. She couldn’t risk it. She tried not to but she noticed. The wolf she recognized as Quil was standing ever so slightly higher than the rest, his head not fully bowed. Instead of the fear in the rest of the group’s eyes he had pure hatred in his.

“Bella!” Dol drew her focus from them to her sister as they tackled her to the ground, Mike’s teeth sinking into her other arm. Dol wasn’t sure what orders he was getting but she knew Kachiri wasn’t going to kill Bella immediately. She also knew Bella had no intention of hurting them. Bella screamed and fought against him.

“I’ve been in your head Isabella. Your mind is so easy to access using your sister. In fact.” Dol felt Kachiri in her head, using their connection again. Dol didn’t know what was done but it clearly had impact on Bella. She tensed up underneath Mike, a sound of fear and anger escaping her as her eyes settled on her sister.

Dol hadn’t been prepared for Bella to kick Mike off of her, she jumped to her feet and lunged for Dol, knocking her off of Mike. Dol screamed and struggled against her sister as they both hit the floor, the world spun around her when her head hit the ground with enough force that it would’ve killed her if she was human. Kachiri had freed her to move now.

“Bella!” Dol screamed as fear filled her. The look in her sister’s eyes terrified her… raw hatred…anger…something Dol hadn’t seen since they were younger. Dol remembered the look from when Bella had learned she betrayed her in Volterra. That was the look she’d received seconds before she’d faded from existence while they were there.

“Daula, how does it feel to know your sister will end your life?” Dol wished upon everything that she would fade from existence again. After all the times she’d been scared of it happening she wanted nothing more than just that.

“Bella! Please!” A sob escaped her as she fought against her sister, struggling in every way possible. It was a useless fight though. She had no way of getting loose. She was going to die.

Bella was knocked off her as Mike hit her seconds after a battle howl filled the air, Dol _felt_ the pack around her, and she felt the threat. Dol scrambled up, barely noticing Bella and Mike fighting to her left.

Dol’s vision was blurred around the edges but she could clearly see what was happening where Kachiri was. Quil had turned on her, he was crouched low with his teeth bared as the pack lined up behind him.

 _Dol, you are an Alpha to some pack. I’ve figured it out. She uses an Alpha Voice. Alphas can fight the power of another Alpha. You just have to know what is there._ The pack around her that consisted every shifter that had been left alive. Quil had claimed them as his pack.

“Back off!” She hissed as Quil moved forward. Fear clearly spiked in Zafrina’s posture. The two sisters were terrified.

Dol turned her attention to her own sister who was trying to tear past the jaguar. The fight was leaving her though. She backed away from Mike who watched her warily but didn’t continue going after her. Dol moved her attention back to Zafrina and Kachiri who were looking between each of the pack members that had now circled around them.

Quil shifted inches in front of Kachiri, hatred rolled off of him in waves. Dol could sense the threat. Even if it wasn’t directed towards her it was present in the room.

“Kachiri, you have done horrible terrible unforgiveable things. Things that no one creature could ever forgive for. You’ve taken countless lives of the creatures you’ve been gifted to _lead._ This is not murder, Kachiri. This is an execution for your crimes against humans and shapeshifters alike.” Dol was watching Quil with awe and slight fear, the authority and power in his voice triggering her instinct to challenge him. She fought the instincts though.

She moved her gaze to her sister who was lying on the ground now, staring off into the space above her. The world in front of her went black at the same time the newly created pack made sounds of confusion.

“It seems Isabella has dropped her shield, Kachiri.” Zafrina’s voice filled the air, sounding closer. Dol began to panic, they were blind. All of them were. _Bella, what just happened?_

 _Dol, I see pretty mountains! Can you see them to?_ The innocence in her telepathic voice terrified Dol. No. She couldn’t. It couldn’t have happened. She couldn’t fall apart. Not now. They were too close.

“It appears I don’t need control over your kind if the one protecting your minds from my sister is too broken to help.” Kachiri’s voice was full of excitement.

There was a sound of doors opening. “Hello, Kachiri.” A very familiar voice filled Dol’s ears and she wasn’t sure if she should’ve been excited or terrified.

“Aro.” Kachiri hissed, it sounded as though she was facing the other direction now.

There was a sound followed by a hiss.

“You will free the pack, Zafrina or you will be executed on sight.”

“As if you intend on letting us out of here alive?” Kachiri’s voice was laced with agitation.

“You know me so well, Kachiri. I have always been fair to you. I would never execute without fair reason.” After a brief moment Dol could see again. There was a dark fog filling the room, it only touched Kachiri and Zafrina, settling around the pack, Dol, and Bella. Dol moved her gaze to the entrance where Aro, Caius, Marcus, Jane, and Alec stood in the door.

Dol met Alec’s eyes briefly, ever so briefly, and there was an apology in them. He wasn’t going to help them in this situation. They were on our own. That left Aro. Aro loved Bella. In some way, shape, or form. He had sent her away because he’d cared too much. Dol had to hope he still cared.

“Isabella.” Aro’s gaze moved to the girl lying on the floor.

“She is broken, Aro.” His gaze moved to mine, he hadn’t been directly involved in the events that had happened with Dol and Bella in Volterra but she couldn’t help but feel hatred towards him.

He pushed past the others and through Alec’s smoke, kneeling beside Isabella with a growl rumbling through him. “Who hurt her? Who changed her?” He growled, lifting his head and looking directly at Dol. Fear spiked through her again.

“Kachiri tortured her. Someone changed her to save her life.” Dol spoke carefully.

Aro growled and lifted Isabella. “Jane.” Dol moved her focus to Kachiri as she dropped to her knees and began screaming. She grabbed her head, holding her skull.

“We made a deal when I agreed to let her go.” Aro growled. “She was to remain human.”

Zafrina hissed at Aro. “Leave my sister!”

“Dol, come here.” Dol was wary at Aro’s order but did as told anyways. He held out his hand and Dol reluctantly took hold of it. She could practically feel him absorbing her thoughts.

After a short moment he let go of her hand and moved his gaze past her. “Alpha shifter; Quil. We interrupted an honorable execution that I would be honored if you were to complete.” Quil shifted the second Aro said it. Dol watched as he jumped on the screaming vampire and bit into her neck, the sound of vampire flesh tearing filled the air followed by her head being thrown from her body. The second he’d beheaded Kachiri he tackled Zafrina and did the same to her.

“Alec.” The boy vampire looked at Aro briefly before pushing forward and joining Quil. He pulled a small metal rectangular object out of his pocket; Quil shifted and took it from him, flicking the lighter once before dropping it on Kachiri’s body. Alec picked up Zafrina’s body and threw her into the fire with Kachiri. The ones near the bodies backed away, Alec glanced at Dol again then smiled sadly.

Dol moved her gaze back to Aro who was holding Bella. Bella was staring off into the distance. Mike was standing behind Aro warily watching the scene in front of him. Dol watched in shock as the smoke in front of Aro wrapped around him at the same time he let out an agonized sound, dropping Bella.

“Go, Blue.” She looked back in the direction Alec stood as the pack turned and moved for Marcus and Caius. Jane dodged them and joined her brother’s side, her gaze never leaving the place behind Dol where Aro was. “I told you I’d get you out. Go, Blue.” Dol turned and ran to her sister’s side, where Bella was lying on the ground lost in her own head. She picked her up as Mike came to her side. Dol carefully put her sister on Mike’s back, climbing on behind her and leaning forward over her sister; wrapping her arms around the jaguar’s neck. He pushed through the pack that was fighting the two old vampires and they ran out the door.

Dol ran through what had just happened as Mike tore down the mostly empty hallways. The only thing they saw as they moved down the hallways they saw dead bodies of both humans and the occasional vampire. Alec and Jane had turned on the Volturi. They’d saved them. Why had they saved them?

They continued down hallways, the closer they got to the exit the more bodies there were. Bella finally seemed to focus not far from the exit. She made a sound as she tried to sit up. “Stay flat.” Dol spoke quietly as they moved.

“So hard to focus…” She mumbled quietly. “What happened?”

“She’s dead, Bella.” Dol whispered quietly. “She’s dead.”

“She’s dead.” Bella spoke with awe. “Really dead.”

“She was burned. She’s dead.” Mike headed up the stairwell that would take them out, stopping before the door.

“Finally dead. Avenged.” Bella spoke quietly as Dol climbed off of Mike’s back. The exit was so close. She had to help Bella off the back of the jaguar, she was zoning out again though. Mumbling incomprehensible words under her breath. Mike shifted and pushed open the door. There was a single vampire on the other side.

He was an olive skinned brown eye black haired vampire with a gentle smile on his lips, he was surrounded in burnt vampires and ash, the building that had once been where they were had been burnt to the ground, the moon gleamed behind him. “The rest?”

“I don’t know. Who are you?” Dol was wary, moving to stand between him and her sister and Imprintee.

“My name is Benjamin. I will be burning the city beneath us.”

“Where are my friends?”

“They are in the battle.” He tilted his head, at first she didn’t hear it but then she did. The sound of paws and claws moving across marble. “The city will burn. You must leave. Leave and don’t come back.”

She glanced behind her as Mike shifted, she looked back at Benjamin. She wanted nothing more than to flee the city but part of her knew she should go look for their friends.

She hesitated as she helped Bella onto Mike’s back. Conflict tearing through her. Stay or go? She hesitated then made her decision. _Take her out of the city, Mike. Now._

He looked at her, emotions running across his expression. He nodded and tore off out of the building. Dol waited for Quil and his pack at the exit of the underground city.


	43. Forty-Three

Dol waited for the pack outside the door, Bella was breaking down, knowing this made Dol not want to survive. She would though. She had a mother out there somewhere. At least she thought she did. Something Kachiri had mentioned while controlling her had told her that.

 _You will be okay, right?_ Mike’s voice entered her head, hesitant.

_I don’t know._

_Jessica wasn’t at the house. I’m heading for Boonville. We’re supposed to meet there._

_I’ll meet you there._

_Okay._

_No arguments?_ Dol was surprised, he’d argued with her on everything so far.

 _I want to see Jessica._ His voice was full of defeat. _I laid my cards on the table with her. I won’t say I regret it but there is a line. If you’re going to run into that battlefield and get yourself killed I won’t follow._ Dol fidgeted uncomfortably earning a questioning look from the vampire who stood not far from her. She shook her head. _You push people away when they care, Dol. You either self-sacrifice or choose the selfish route. I haven’t figured out whether you staying behind is a suicide attempt or you will gain by staying. We’ll see._

_I do care about you, Mike._

_I know you do. You care about me and you love your sister. You don’t care about yourself though. I think you’d rather die than accept your sister could possibly never be herself again._

_Goodbye, Mike._

_You have people that love you. Remember that._

She didn’t respond to that. She had nothing to say. She had taken the easy route of self-destruction when Bella had snapped before. Not this time. She would hold herself together. She’d deal with Bella after everything was done. She’d help her sister become the girl she was now. She ignored the part of her brain that told her that Bella wasn’t going to be okay. She couldn’t think that. She would save her.

Dol looked up as the pack filed out of the entrance to the city, there were significantly less bodies though. She searched the group, Alec. Where was he?

 _Dol._ She forced her attention to Quil who was sat in front of her.

“What happened?” She swallowed heavily. Quil was covered in blood. Some of it was his but not all of it.

_After we killed the Volturi one of the other shifters challenged me for the pack. We ended up with two sides._

It didn’t surprise her, she still felt compelled to challenge Quil but she kept it buried. She had to.

“Your side won.”

 _I regret it. There have already been so many lives lost…after she died most of those that had taken her side submitted to me. Not all of them. We had to kill more shifters. We shouldn’t have._ He looked away from Dol towards Benjamin. “He’s going to burn the city.” She spoke quietly. Quil moved past her to confront him.

“Hey, Blue.” Alec’s voice scared her, she turned around and backed away immediately. “Calm down.” He rolled his eyes. He was missing his left arm. “Aro has a lot of will. Pushed through the torture Jane was inflicting long enough to take my arm. It’s my fault really. Should have kept him blind. Got it in the fire before I had a chance to react.” He shook his head, watching Dol warily.

“I’m sorry.” Dol spoke softly. “Where’s-“

“Jane took off. She wants nothing to do with the residual battle on the surface.” He paused and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small necklace Dol recognized as Bella’s. “Aro used information he obtained from one of the vampires we killed to find Isabella’s room. He did care about her.”

“Why did you do it?” She asked him as he handed her the necklace.

“Rumors were going around. The kinds of rumors Aro couldn’t sweep under the rug. I was to be executed upon return for attempting to aide a certain human’s escape from the city a few years ago.” Dol went to speak but he held up his finger to his lips before continuing. “I’m leaving with my sister, Blue. You will never see me again. You aren’t immortal. You’re a shapeshifter. You can’t be immortal. I can’t allow myself to gain an attachment to you because I can’t let my heart be broken.” He held out his arm as an offer which she accepted as she stepped into him and sighed softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head on his chest.

“Thank you, Alec.”

“Don’t get sappy on me, Blue.” She pulled back so that she could look up at him, not letting herself go. “I still stand by my initial views of you being a stalker.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Before I go, answer this question. How often did you spy on me in Volterra?”

She didn’t answer him immediately, she remembered exactly how often. She remembered everything courtesy of Kachiri. “Whenever I wasn’t with Bella I was spying on you for several months.”

He chuckled softly and kissed her on the forehead. “Goodbye, Blue.” Then he was gone and she was overly aware of the pack around her and the smell of fire behind her. She turned to face the entrance of the city, holding the necklace tightly in her hand. Smoke began pouring out the door.

 _Dol._ She turned to face Quil and Benjamin. Benjamin was unfocused, staring at the entrance to the city. Quil was sitting next to him, watching Dol warily. _Are we going to join the fight? Kill off any of the remaining vampires?_

Dol considered this. Was it worth it? Could she let more shifters die? The humans that had been priority in saving were all dead. The shifters could hold their own.

Dol looked at Benjamin as his phone started ringing in his pocket. He growled under his breath as he focused on them, reaching into his pocket and pulling it out. He said something under his breath as he tossed her the phone then went back to focusing. She flipped it open and pressed it to her ear.

“Where’s my daughter?” Edward’s voice on the other end was not something she’d expected, she hesitated before answering.

“Hi, Edward great to talk to you too.” She didn’t know how to answer the question.

“Dol, where the hell is my daughter?”

“First tell me where my friends are.”

“Alice and Jasper left before the battle started. Emmett stuck around long enough to move into the fight for show. Most everyone is dead.”

“What about Rose?”

He paused, not answering her. “Where’s my daughter?”

She didn’t know. She had no idea. “I wasn’t there. I was prisoner to Kachiri when they emptied the cages.”

“Rosalie died to Aro. Put someone on the phone who knows the answer.” She held the phone out to Quil who shifted and took it hesitantly. Rosalie was dead. Rosalie had died. She had no reason to stick around after that.

 _“You both are about to be drug into something that I can almost guarantee will result in the death of at least one of you.”_ What Jane had told Bella rang through her head. Rosalie had died twice. It seemed…necessary. Rosalie wasn’t supposed to be alive. Dol had broken natural barriers to save her. The death should have bothered her but it didn’t. It was too easy to accept it.

“We’re going to leave.” She finally answered Quil’s question. She wasn’t going to get anyone else killed. He nodded handing the phone to Benjamin and shifting back to his wolf form, tilting his head to look at her as he lowered himself ever so slightly in an offer. She accepted it, climbing onto his back and wrapping her arms around him. They wouldn’t watch the final battle. It didn’t matter which side won. They were free.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

The group met up in a football field near the highschool, someone had gone to a store called Wal-Mart and gotten sweatpants and sundresses for the shapeshifters to dress into. Dol hadn’t bothered to ask who or why. The pack was sitting in the stands talking to each other quietly while Dol and her…friends -they were her friends but it still was hard for her to accept- sat in the middle of the field. Mike, Jessica, Alice, her mate –Jasper-, Quil, and Edward were there. The murderous glares Edward was giving Bella were terrifying but he hadn’t tried to kill her yet so there was that.

“What do we do now?” Quil asked warily.

Jessica gave Dol a dirty look. “She fixes my fiancée and never shows her face again.”

“I’ll try. I never said for certain I can change him back.” Dol wanted to argue with Jessica but she didn’t have the energy. Alice typed a number into her phone again and called Emmett. She’d been trying to get him to answer but hadn’t been lucky yet.

“She wanted to stay?” Edward finally asked, he hadn’t spoken much since Dol had arrived. The most emotion he’d shown was the murderous glares he’d given her sister.

“She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay with her hallucinations.” He looked over Dol’s shoulder where she was trying hard to ignore her sister who was running around the field chasing butterflies when Quil spoke. She had tried to get through to her sister and failed. So far she was lost in her head. Dol didn’t know what Kachiri had done to her using their connection but whatever it had been it had destroyed her sister. Her final attack had worked so far.

“I think we know someone that can relate.” Dol growled at Edward who smirked at her. “It’s a shame I only got her once.”

“Stop hiding behind being an ass.” She clenched her teeth.

“I am an ass. I’m not hiding.”

“So you’re perfectly fine your daughter was too screwed in the head to want to be free from the cage you trapped her in her entire life.” Something flashed through Edward’s eyes then he attacked her, the vampires seated barely managed to grab him and keep him from snapping her neck.

“Dol.” Mike glared at her as she sat up.

She ignored the disapproving stares from the others. “Allow me to fulfil her death wish.” Edward growled as he jerked out of the other vampire’s holds with ease.

_Get out of my head, Edward._

“Make me.” He challenged her as his gaze moved back behind her again.

“Before you get yourself killed, Dol. Fix. My. Fiancée.” Jessica’s voice drew her attention and she let out a defeated sigh as she got to her feet, pushing past Edward and sitting back down directly in front of Mike.

She held out her hands which he took warily. _Mike, do you want me to do this?_

 _I’m not certain._ His mental voice was hesitant.

_I can tell her I can’t do it. She doesn’t have to know it was your choice._

_Thank you._ She let go of his hands and shook her head.

“I can’t. I can’t take it back. I’m sorry, Jessica.”

“She’s lying.” Edward’s voice was smug.

 _Go to hell._ She thought as she turned to face him but he was gone.

“I wish I was lying.” Dol spoke softly, shaking her head with disappointment. She hoped Jessica would believe it.

“Mike, is she being honest?”

“I don’t know.” His voice was full of hesitance.

“Dol, I want to offer something to you.” She turned her attention to Quil as he stood. “Walk with me.” He said after a short hesitation.

“We’ll talk after this. I need to talk to both of you after this.” Alice and Jasper stood.

“We’re going to leave, Dol.” They left in a flash, not giving her a chance to respond. Quil put his hands in his pockets and headed northeast, bowing his head as he moved. Dol hesitated then followed. They walked in silence for a several minutes, moving away from the football field and arriving at a body of water.

“Did you ever meet your father?” Quil finally asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

“He left after he got my mom pregnant. I never met him but I know he came to visit once to prove to Bella’s parents that she wasn’t lying about me.” Quil nodded absently.

“Shapeshifters do that. We aren’t supposed to mate with humans. Everything is complicated.”

“You didn’t bring me out here to talk about my parents.”

“I sort of did. Your mother. Is she still alive?”

“Kachiri mentioned her. I don’t know if she is though.”

“If she is she’s probably where you grew up. The pack you lead would have her stay there to protect her.” Dol had remembered the pack, she hadn’t pieced together that she was their leader when they were younger because she had been too young but now she understood it.

“I’ll look for her after we leave.”

“I want you and the other three to come with me. For a few days.”

“Why?”

“Imprintees get special privileges. We have a sort of massive bank account that all Imprintees get access to.”

“Who is we?”

“Shifters exist all over the world. Even those of us who want to kill each other protect Imprintees. We all work towards the even goal of making sure Imprintees are eternally happy.”

“I’m apparently part of a cool group of creatures.”

“You are. Which is a good thing.” He grinned and looked up at me. “I’m sure Jessica will agree to the money.”

“Do you think Bella can be helped?”

“I don’t know, Dol. If she can it’s beyond anything a shapeshifter can do on their own.”

“Thank you, Quil. For helping us. For everything.”

“What can I say? Freedom didn’t seem useful until I met you guys.” She shook her head at him. “Kidding. I am happy I met you though.”

She thought about that for a short while, watching as Quil absently kicked a rock into the water. “Can I pull the jaguar essence out of him?”

“I don’t think so.” He said absently. “I’ve never met a spectral shifter. I know they can take the essence of dead shifters and living animals and convert them into shapeshifters. I’ve never heard of one unmaking a shapeshifter.”

“He doesn’t want to be unmade but Jessica wants him changed back.”

“She doesn’t like you but she’ll get over it.” He stated after a moment.

They stood there a bit longer in a comfortable silence. Finally he took initiative and turned back towards the football field, Dol followed in his steps, heading back with him.

 

.-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-..-~**~-.

 

They -being Bella and Dol- were in Forks, Washington. Jessica seemed to have forgotten all about how mad she was at Dol when she saw the bank account balance they had access to. She had agreed to buy a house in Port Angeles under the insistence of Mike. She wasn’t happy about it but she wasn’t angry either. As far as Jessica was concerned Dol could change him back but she didn’t want to.

Dol had the cab stop in front of the house she recognized from her memories as the house she had grown up in. Bella was bouncing in her seat excitedly talking a hundred miles a minute about how excited she was to be home. She got out of the car with heavy hesitance while Bella threw the door open and ran to the front door.

“Bella, hold on!” She pulled the trunk open and pulled the suitcase full of clothes Quil had bought her out, she closed it and went to the driver’s side door, handing the man the money for the cab ride. She felt her pack approaching from the woods.

 _Wait._ The order was instinctual.

“Bella, wait out here for a minute. We’ll see Aunt El in a minute.” Bella pouted but didn’t knock on the door. Dol went into the woods outside her house, going into the trees until she was sure she was out of Bella’s line of sight.

 _Okay._ Her pack came out of the trees warily, Embry was the only one in human form. They all were staring at her in awe.

“Daula.” Embry didn’t step towards her.

“Embry, right?”

“You’re so much older…can I?” She held out her arms and he stepped forward until he was in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her into a tight hug, spinning her around.

“We knew you were alive. We searched for so long…”

“Is my mom okay?”

“She’s okay. She misses you.”

“She remembers me?”

“Yes, she remembers you. Is Bells okay?”

“She…she lost her mind…it’s a long story for another day.”

“It’s okay, Daula. Come ride later, okay?”

“I will.” He let go of her and she turned away from them, when she reached the edge of the tree line she tensed up, the front door was open and Bella wasn’t anywhere in sight. Dol’s instincts told her to be scared so she was. She ran up to the doorframe and stopped. Her mom was there. She had Bella in a hug and was crying softly. She looked up from the hug at Dol and froze.

“Daula.” She whispered it quietly.

“Mom.”


	44. Forty-Four

Daula Marin Uley was a shapeshifter who was born September 13th 1997 in Forks Washington in the hospital room right next to Isabella Marie Swan. Isabella Marie Swan and Daula Marin Uley had something happen, they had been conceived at the same time and they breathed their first breath of fresh oxygen at the same moment. They became soul sisters. So much happened to these girls. They met people, they met vampires, they met humans, the met shapeshifters, and they made friends.

They hadn’t expected any of this. They had been one girl with a voice inside her head. Now they had friends and Dol knew why she existed. The problem was the questions. How did this end? How was it supposed to end?

Was it ever really over though? Sure life moved on but did it ever truly end?

The answer was no. It couldn’t end. It was life. Dol had accepted that no matter what direction she went she would never have all the answers to all the questions. It wasn’t possible. No matter how much Dol wanted all the questions answered they never would be.

That was what had led her to the next point -this point in this room- the unanswered questions.

Dol was an alpha shifter without the ability to shift. She was basically human. Even after everything they had been through it wasn’t over. There was a final thing that needed to be answered.

 

Three people sat at a table. A broken vampire, a human, and a broken shapeshifter.

“Girls?”

Bella was staring off into space now. She was barely ever there anymore. A child trapped in an adult’s body.

“Yeah, mom?” Dol asked her mom who laid a comforting hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“I still can’t believe it. It still amazes me.” Her mother hadn’t believed it when she’d seen them.

“We need to talk, Bella.” Dol touched her sister’s arm which earned a jump and rapid blinking from Bella.

“Um…yeah, sure.” She mumbled as her eyes focused on her sister before moving to her aunt. Dol was thrilled that they’d gotten a somewhat mature response from her. A somewhat Bella response.

“We should do something, Bells.” Ellen spoke softly, her eyes searching the face of her adoptive daughter.

“What do you want to do, Aunt El?” Bella’s voice returned to a childish tone which caused the mom and daughter to glance at each other nervously.

“We could go watch a movie?”

“I’ll grab my jacket!” Bella jumped up and ran out of the dining room of their childhood home, going up the stairs.

“Dol, we need to talk about, Bells.”

“She’ll come back around. She has to.” Dol whispered with no conviction in her words.

“She’s barely…”

“Mom, please. I don’t want to talk about this.”

The hard truth was Dol knew what needed to happen. The final crack had grown in Bella’s falling sanity until she was barely her anymore. Kachiri had broken her and she was regressing. She wasn’t Bella anymore. She was somewhere in her Izzy mindset most of the time. The youngest part of her.

Dol was selfish. She didn’t want to let go of her sister. She couldn’t let go of her. She wasn’t ready for it. She wasn’t ready to lose her sister.

 

The three sat outside the theatre after their movie had ended on a bench, Dol hadn’t paid much attention but Bella had been happy watching it, smiling and laughing and grinning. It had been good. Dol knew what she had to do though. She had thought about it during the movie. She had accepted it.

“Dol?” Dol looked up as Mike and Jessica approached them. Jessica had mostly forgiven Dol for everything. It had taken several months but she had done it.

“Mike!” Bella jumped up from her seat and ran up to him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him with care. Had it been Dol Jessica might have made some snide comment but instead she just smiled sadly. Jessica didn’t like the two girls but she wasn’t completely heartless either. She knew where Bella was and wouldn’t ruin the girl’s day.

“Hey, Bella. How’re you today?”

“I’m hungry.” Bella mumbled and stepped back.

 

Bella was technically a vampire, that was true. However, in her receding mind Bella had lost her appetite for human blood. She picked at human food when it was given to her but she never ate. She didn’t feed and she didn’t eat. It was useful in some respects.

Dol was leaning against the wall drinking whisky out of glass. Her mother was sitting on the couch, watching her daughter with slight disapproval. Mike and Jessica were sitting on the couch, Bella was playing in the yard with her stuffed dog named Frog and the four others were talking.

“I need your help, Mike.” Dol said suddenly as a thought entered her, she had one final chance.

He looked at her with curiosity before asking her, “what do you need help with?”

The glare Jessica cast her was unsettling. “I haven’t been able to establish a mental connection with the Bella we know because her mind is crumbling. Kachiri destroyed her.”

“How can I help with something between the two of you?” Jessica’s glaring was irritating Dol more and more.

“I need to use our connection to stabilize the bond between myself and Bella. I wouldn’t ask if there was anything else and I don’t know what being touched by her mind will do to you.”

Mike was wary. “I won’t go-“

Dol immediately knew what he was asking. It bothered her that he’d assume she’d put him in a situation like that. “You won’t go insane. You know I would never put you in danger’s way.”

“No. Mike, don’t.” Jessica interrupted. “She could be wrong. If Bella is that far lost God knows what being touched by her mind could do to you.” She turned him, making him look at her. “Please, Mike.” Dol was annoyed by Jessica as she usually was. She clenched her teeth and took another drink of her drink.

“Jessica, what don’t you get about the fact that I can’t put him in harm’s way?”

“You’re kidding me, right? Your very presence put him in harm’s way back in Missouri! We were perfectly safe until-“

“We freed that town from the city of fucking vampires running beneath it! Don’t you dare say you would’ve been safer before we showed up!”

“The burning of the city, it would’ve happened whether you’d been there or not.” Jessica shook her head. “Get off your fucking high horse, Dol. You didn’t need to be there. It would’ve happened either way.”

Dol didn’t respond, she narrowed her eyes at Jessica and –before she realized she’d done it- threw her glass at the wall behind Jessica. Jessica shouted something as Dol stormed up to her room. She hated Jessica, she hated what was happening. She wanted her sister back. She also knew Jessica was right.

 

So what had brought her to this point? This final point where she stood in the middle of a beautiful clearing digging a hole in the ground.

 _Embry._ She sighed and sat at the edge of the hole, dropping the shovel to her side as the wolves came out of the forest around them. She closed her eyes and put her face in her hands for a few seconds before pulling her face out of them and looking up.

Bella saw the wolves and jumped up, running to Embry and wrapping her arms around his neck while giggling. At least she didn’t remember her fear of the wolves. She could be happy around them and they could see her before they did the last thing.

 _Hey, Bells._ The young girl grinned at the wolf as the rest of the pack moved past her, sitting down in front of Dol.

“Dig.” Dol didn’t bother asking but she also didn’t bother using her Alpha Voice. The wolves knew what was being done and why it was being done. It was strangely comforting that she didn’t need to tell or ask them to do it.

 _Would you like to go for a ride, Bella?_ The girl wasted no time after Embry knelt down allowing her to climb on his back.

“Seth.” He moved past the other wolves that had taken to digging the hole she had requested and knelt down in front of Dol. She laid her hand on his shoulder before climbing on his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he stood and joined Embry who was now standing with Bella in a similar position.

“Hey, Izzy.” Dol mumbled as she looked at her sister who was laying her head on Embry, facing Dol.

“Let’s go!” She grinned at her sister.

 _Hold on, Bella!_ Embry’s voice filled their heads. Once the girls had tight grips on thei wolves they took off into the trees.

 

This was it. This was where it ended. The two girls standing in the dark looking down a deep hole under the light of a full moon, hand in hand.

_Bella, are you there?_

_Thank you, Dol._ Bella’s voice was strong in her mind. It hadn’t been easy but once her broken mind had somehow pieced together what was happening she had managed to patch herself together temporarily.

 _Are you sure?_ Dol knew the answer, she didn’t like it but she knew it.

 _I’m barely here right now, Dol. This needs to happen. I will keep falling until I’m gone completely._ Tears filled Dol’s eyes as her sister talked to her.

Dol looked at her sister out of the corner of her eye. _It will basically be murder._

 _No. It’s the right thing to do._ Bella turned so she was facing her now.

 _Letting you go insane is the right thing?_ Dol looked at her sister.

 _I’m already insane. I’ve been insane since the day Aro kidnapped me. Dol, I was so happy…_ She sent images of the fantasy world she had lived in for four years to her sister. Dol had to admit seeing her sister’s parents together and happy was an amazing prospect. The happiness in her memories filled Dol with guilt for prolonging this because she didn’t want to let her sister go.

She knew she had to do it. She knew she had to let her sister go. It didn’t make the choice any easier to make. They had been together for nineteen years except when she had faded from the real world. It wasn’t an easy thing to let go. She wanted to join her sister. She was certain she could even without the ability to become spectral. She couldn’t though. She had a job and her mom needed her.

_Do you think you’ll ever wake up?_

_I don’t know, Dol. In my head, time probably will never pass as it does here._

_Do you think…when Mike and my mom die…I could join you?_ The idea of her family dying hurt her but it would happen. Everyone died. Everyone and everything had to die.

 _I will never lock you out again, Dol. I can’t tell you no or yes. If you want to join me in the future then go ahead and do it. From now on; live life. Find someone to love, spend time with your mom, protect Mike. Do the right things for the right reasons to make up for all the times we did the wrong things for the wrong reasons._ She turned her body and wrapped her arms around Dol squeezing her in a tight hug.

Dol felt herself bruising but was comforted by it. She hugged her sister back and cried softly. They stood there for what felt like years before finally breaking apart.

Bella turned as the wolves -excluding Embry- emerged from the woods behind them, their heads were ducked low. Bella swallowed nervously but didn’t panic like Dol knew she wanted to. Embry stepped out behind the other wolves, in his human form.

“Bells?” He spoke her name gently, voice full of sadness and comfort.

“Hi, Embry.” She spoke softly as he walked forward past the other wolves, stopping in front of Bella.

“I’m going to miss you… Can I?” Bella nodded nervously as Embry hugged her. She hesitated then hugged him back. Dol watched them silently. Dol knew Bella hated the wolves but she also loved them. Fear was a strong emotion. No matter how much she loved them they terrified her. Dol knew this took her sister a lot of strength.

They pulled apart and Embry stepped back after gently kissing Bella’s forehead. “Your parents would be proud of you.”

“Thank you, Embry. For being there.” She spoke quietly as he turned and walked away.

“There’s no need to thank me, Bells.” Dol didn’t bother looking as the sound of shredding clothes and cracking bones filled the air.

“I need to go. I can feel myself falling again, Dol.” She looked at her sister once before dropping down into the hole. Dol sat down on the edge of the hole and let her legs dangle in it.

“I love you, Bella.” Dol watched her sister closely.

“I love you, Dol.” Bella spoke quietly as she lay down in the hole, closing her eyes.

“I’ll miss you.”

 _I will always be here._ Dol could feel the fading in her mental voice. She was going. It was oddly comforting though.

Dol lay back and looked at the sky, watching the stars and the moon. She felt Bella’s consciousness fade until she was lost. There wasn’t a solid wall this time keeping her out though. Dol had the choice to penetrate the wall if she ever wanted to. She couldn’t right now though. No. Instead she lay there and lived the night to its fullest. Absorbing every detail she could. The sun would rise soon and when it did Dol knew she would absorb all of that as well. For her sister. For herself. They needed that. They’d earned that.


End file.
